The Playan Imperial Palace was a huge complex of various castles. The ground of the palace was so vast it could be considered as a small city of its own, with each part designated with a purpose. The followings were the arrangement:
-There was the Silver Castle right at the center which served as the residence for the Emperor and the Empress as well as where the treasury and the throne room were located.
-Then there was the Green Castle to the west which served as the administrative building where the officials of the Imperial Court handled most of their affairs. Also where the guests of the Emperor would reside.
-To the east was the Dark Castle where the Imperial Guard made their headquarter as well as the dungeon and other military facilities pertinent to the palace's security.
-To the south was the Golden Castle where the concubines resided.
-And finally to the north was the Crimson Castle where the Emperor's children, the seven Little Suns of Terraluna, resided.
The Crimson Castle itself was a complex consisted of one small red palace and seven sizeable manors. With the red palace at the center and the manors surrounding it.
Standing between the manors were walls and vast gardens, ensuring perfect isolation and privacy for each estate. That being said, the manors were connected to one another through a cobbled road should their residents wished to visit one another.
As they were the home for the Emperor's children, all of the manors in the Crimson Castle looked stunning. Except for one.
While six were looking regal and dignified with their beautiful and overwhelming design, the seventh was looking ran-down and bleak. While the other six had their lawns cleaned and decorated with beautiful flowers and fountains, the seventh was neglected and barren.
That being said, the poor-looking manor was not empty.
Hanging out laundries at the lawn of the forsaken manor were two maids. One was an elderly while the other was nothing but a child who just approached her teens. The two may differ greatly in age, but they shared some resemblance in their features that nobody could deny.
"Linnie…" called the elderly maid to the younger one. "…after you're done with your batch, don't forget to hurry to the kitchen and prepare His Highness's lunch. His training should be over soon."
"Yes, grandmother!" replied the girl. "Shall I serve the meal in the prince's study or in th--"
The rattling sound of several carriages from afar suddenly distracted the young maid. She quickly turned to the elderly one.
"GRANDMOTHER! MORE MAGES ARE COMING!"
"Go check them out! See where they're going to! I'll get Sir Matthew!"
"On it!"
The young maid threw the clothes she was holding back to the laundry basket and quickly ran outside the manor's walls, toward the cobbled path. She then directed her gaze toward the intersection that led to the other manors in the Crimson Castle.
The sound of the carriages began to sound louder. The girl waited in anticipation of their emergence.
Then, right around the corner, appeared one carriage. But it kept moving forward and past the manor the maid was at.
"Aw…" sighed the girl. She quickly looked spirited once more. "Then maybe the next one!"
Another carriage appeared and it made a turn. It was just not at the direction of the girl's manor.
"The next one!"
Another carriage emerged but it made the same turn.
"The last one! It's gotta be it!"
A fourth carriage appeared but it kept moving forward. None of the carriages made their way toward the poor-looking manor.
"Linnie!"
The elderly maid hurried to the girl. She had someone accompanying her. An elderly man in a butler's clothing.
"Have the carriages passed?" asked the elderly maid.
"Yes, grandmother… But none of them is heading for us." said the girl.
"Do you remember which way they were going?" asked the elderly butler.
"Two were going at the direction of the Fourth Prince and the Second Princess's manors. While another two headed for the Third Princess and the Third Prince's." said the girl. "I heard another two carriages in the distance. But it seemed they're taking another path into the castle. Most likely to head to the First Princess and the First Prince's."
"Goodness! That's the twentieth trip this day for each of the manor other than ours!" said the elderly maid in frustration. "The other residences must be packed full with mages already!"
The elderly butler sighed at this outcome.
"It's been five days since we sent out selection invitations to the promising mages. The ones that were discovered from the tests held at the six goddesses' temples across the Empire." said the butler. "And not one of them has answered our call."
"What shall we do, Sir Matthew?" asked the elderly maid. "His Highness is scheduled to depart for Grimcloud Forest tomorrow!"
"But I thought His Highness needed a mage to go there?" asked the girl. "Sir Wright said that the forest is dangerous and only a talented mage could keep our prince safe!"
"That's the problem, Linnie…" said the butler with a troubled face. He then walked back toward the manor. "As worrying as it is, I should hurry and inform His Highness."
The butler journeyed through the manor. Its interior was as bleak as its exterior. The furniture, though well-kept, were bare-minimum.
The chairs seemed as if they were about to break down. Some even looked like as if they had been nailed back to its form. The cushion on them were made with horrible fabrics and stuffed with loose cottons. One probably would find a better seating at the least-successful inn at the countryside.
The tables were made from a cheap wood that could be found in local tavern. They even had holes on them ravaged by the termites that used to inhabit there.
Its drapes were plain-white cloth. There were even tears on some. But the smaller ones were fixed with stitches. Still, the fact they had to sew the drape instead of buying a new one showed that the owner of the manor simply could not afford it.
Once one got a good look of the interior, they would soon forget that they were inside a manor which served as the residence of one of the Emperor's children.
Unbothered by the sight around him, for his gaze had gotten used to the devastating state, the butler walked toward the rear entrance and made his way to a grassy lawn behind the manor. There he encountered a tall middle-aged man with muscular built.
"Sir Matthew! What brought you to our practice session?" called the middle-aged man.
"A word, Sir Wright…"
The elderly butler then leaned in to the middle-aged man's ear with a worried look.
"As of now, no mage has answered His Highness's invitation, Sir Wright." whispered the butler. "And forgive me for saying this…but I don't think any mage will come to serve our prince and join him to Grimcloud."
The middle-aged man's face turned worried as well.
"We've sent invitations to more than 500 mages, Sir Matthew." said him in desperate tone. "Maybe we should wait a little bit more."
"If number is the issue, then surely at least a few would've come to us by now." replied the butler. "But I believe no matter how many mages we reached, no one will still come to aid our master."
"Surely both of you had expected this, no? After all, I am the Doomed Prince."
A low vibrating voice interrupted the middle-aged man and the elderly butler's conversation. The voice was so commanding that they could not help but to search for its source. The two turned their gaze and found a third person coming toward them.
It was a man whose height even went slightly further from the middle-aged man's, casting a huge shadow behind him with his towering frame.
He had no clothes on, spare a grey trouser, for he was in the middle of exhaustive sword training. His muscular physique which was drenched in hot sweat indicated how rigorous his session was.
Light steam emanated from the pores of his steel-like muscles for all the heat he accumulated from his training. The small cloud went all the way up to his face, passing through his masculine beard, light-purple eyes akin to iris flower, and finally his short striking dark hair which resembles the evening sky.
His visage emanated with the sense of both youth and maturity. A young man who was just about to embrace his adulthood.
The way the man sported his features and mannered his limbs were so gentlemanly. One simply could not be help but be captivated by his handsome appearance and charming conduct. He would definitely make a great bachelor sought after by many damsels were it not for his name.
Indeed, this very splendid gentleman was none other than His Highness the Second Prince, Aristo Rosan Doulosaima. Or also known as the Doomed Prince.