[Writer's Pov]
Early in the morning, Cyrus, the first prince, was awoken by her mistress, Olivia. Although she knew that Cyrus would be dumping her today, she still kept playing her role as a mistress without fail.
"Master! Go and bathe before you get late for the festival,"she said to him as he yawned from sleep.
He woke up lazily and dragged himself to the bathroom, only to find warm water and everything he needed set already in his bathroom. He smiled as he soaked himself in the full wooden made tub of water.
"Do you perhaps want me to come and wash you, my prince,"Olivia asked.
"No. Just tell the cooks to bring me something to eat."
He continued bathing, and when he was done, he covered himself with a white silky robe and went back to his room, where he found a cook dishing some food for him.
He grabbed a large piece of meat and took a bite, but then spit it all out and drank water.
"What mediocrity did you just feed me, woman! I asked for food, not a revolting concoction,"he snapped.
"Let me taste it for you, my prince,"Olivia said, taking a bite from the meat. It tasted really delicious, but well, she knew the kind of person Prince Cyrus was. When he claims that something is bad, then that's it no matter how good it could be.
"How dare you serve this cold dish to my prince,"she yelled at the cook, and the poor cook couldn't help but start shivering.
"I'm sorry, my prince,"the cook replied, bowing down her head."
"Bow down lower. I will not be disrespected by half-hearted gestures. I am royalty, not your equal,"he sneered. "
"I'm sorry, my prince,"the cook replied, bowing down lower until her head touched the ground."
"Ugh,"he muttered. "Remove yourself from my presence at once. Your very proximity offends me."
The poor cook stood up with her head bowed low and walked out.
Olivia was left helping Cyrus change his clothes and then walked out, heading to the grand colosseum, a very large stadium in the palace where the kingdom of Blumund holds important events and festivals.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the forests near the kingdom, Athena is seen running on her to speed. She had left her village two days ago, and she has been on the road ever since.
There are mages in every village who charge money to teleport people straight to the kingdom, but she had no money or whatsoever, so she had to walk there by foot. She could hear the noise of people cheering from the grand colosseum, and she knew she was close. After about half an hour, she finally arrived at the gate of the kingdom, where she was delayed by the guards who didn't want to let her in. They claimed she was too dirty and smelly to get in, and to be honest, she knew they were right. As a person who walked by foor for two days without bathing, she got dirty and her body sweat made her start smelling, but still, she couldn't give up because some guard told her to go away. She kept begging them to let her in until they finally just decided to give it a rest and let her in.
When she got in, her eyes widened in amusement. She had never been to the kingdom capital in her life, let alone get the chance to get inside the grand colosseum. This was like a dream to her. The festival had already begun. She was really late and everyone was already seated in their respective seats, so when she got in, everyone looked at her and some even started complaining.
"Ew... who is this girl? She has a terrible odor that can make flies die in an instant if they got closer to her."
"What were the guards thinking, letting someone like her enter this sacred place."
"What does she hope to do anyway. The king won't definitely hire someone as dirty as her "
She knew that people would react this way to her presence, so she didn't let that bother her. She just needed somewhere to sit, but no one came to show her where she should sit or at least tell her what to do. They just ignored her and listened to the king who was giving his speech.
"Umm....Helloooo,"she yelled, her voice echoing throughout the grand colosseum which made the king stop speaking and looked at her."
People nearby just gasped in shock, wondering where a mere commoner like her got the guts to speak while the king was speaking.
Two royal guards instantly walked over to her and restrained her.
"You can continue speaking, your majesty. Don't bother yourself with such insolence. We'll deal with it,"one of the royal guards said, and the king continued his speech.
They took Athena to a corner and started punching her in the stomach.
"How dare you talk like that in front of your majesty and all the respected nobles present,"they asked, punching her harder that she started coughing out blood."
"I.. I just wanted to ask where to seat."
"Huh! Are you crazy? Do you think the king gives a fuck about where a low life like you should sit? Even if you sit on mud, the king wouldn't care less."
"I'm sorry,"she pleaded but they kept beating her until she couldn't take it anymore and decided to fight back.
She punched one of them on the face, although he was wearing an armor on, the punch made it bend a little, causing his head to become painful. She kicked the other straight on the balls, and no one saw shit since they were in a private corner. After that, she walked back to where the others were sitting, and sat down on the floor while listening to the king's speech.
"Now, those who believe that they are talented and would be worthy of becoming our kingdom's royal knights, please come forward,"the king announced and around twenty people stood up and walked over to where the king was standing with Mr Galen and Mr Seith, the leader of the holy church of the 'Eyes of God'. He came to represent the church which is the kingdom's second ruling party. He's highly respected by everyone in the kingdom including the king himself.
When Athena noticed others standing up, she picked up her bag and joined them.
The others looked at her with disgust. She was definitely the 'odd one out' - judging by how dirty she looked.
Mr Galen, the wisest wizard removed a round magic crystal from his bag and put it on the table.
"This crystal measures a person's magic and affinity. Now come forward and touch it. It would tell us how much magic you have,"Mr Galen said, and Athena felt very excited. She believed that she had magic deep down her that only needed to be unlocked. So she believed that if she touched the crystal, it might help her know what type of magic she has, and then attend the magic academy to learn more on how to awaken it. Out of excitement, she walked fast to touch the crystal first, but the others stopped her.
"Hands, off, dirty pig. Nobody wants to touch a crystal that's been tainted with your dirty hands. You'll be the last one,"they said, pushing her away.
They started touching the crystal as it reacted to their magic by changing colors. Those with fire magic, it turned red, those with water magic, it turned blue, and it turned a whole different colors as well on other people. Finally, everyone of them was done gaging their magic, and now it was her time.
Without wasting time, she quickly grabbed the crystal, but to her shock, it didn't react or change any color. She touched it over and over again, but nothing changed. The others started laughing at her and calling her stupid. Mr Galen told her to go back home and forget about joining the royal knights, but she refused and tried persuading them to hire her. After all, she really needed to be hired to earn for her family.
"Please, your majesty, hire me. I'll be of great use, l promise. I'm strong despite not being able to use magic. I trained ever since I was a child. Please, put my skills on a test."
The King felt angry when she said that. He despised commoners with all his heart, and just seeing one of them beg to be hired to work for him made him even more angrier.
"Listen, here, you little..."
"Wait, Galdord," Mr. Seith, the priest and the leader of the holy church "The Eyes Of God", said to the king. The king said nothing as Mr. Seith walked over to Athena and looked at her with disgust as said.
"Listen to me, you worthless dutchbag. Do you know what I call people who can't use magic like you? I call them the 'god forsaken.' The great god Bullard that we worship didn't give you the power to use magic, which means he sees you and people like you as nothing but worthless rodents and not deserving of his blessings. Now, be a good heathen and go back to the pathetic little hole you crawled out from."
Tbc