The Great Kingdom Of Waves was ruled by King Rutherford Padnall, who was the second son of the Late Great King Charles and had ascended the throne at the young age of eighteen when his father and older brother who was the real heir to the throne, tragically passed away.

Married to two beautiful women, Queen Marina and Queen Kiara, King Rutherford became father to seven princes and one princess.

Queen Marina, the first and most powerful Queen of Waves is the mother of Prince Nolan, Prince Owen, Prince Lucas, Prince Williams and Princess Anya. While Queen Kiara, the second Queen, is mother to Prince Frederick and Prince Victor.

And then, there is one son, not born to King Rutherford from a Queen or royalty. Prince Arthur is the black sheep of the family, born of a slave that was now an outcast in the kingdom, he wasn't recognized as full royalty because of that. Prince Arthur raised himself in the palace without the love of a mother and grew to become quite a rebellious personality that the queens found very hard to control.

"Can I have everyone's attention please," King Rutherford said as he clicked a spoon with his wine glass to get the attention of the hundreds of people gathered in the grand hall to celebrate the birthday of his Queen, Marina.

The entire hall fell silent as everyone paid attention to the most revered king in all the twelve kingdoms. The ruler of Waves was about to make an announcement, one that would forever widen the rift between the brothers and change the story of the kingdom forever.

"As much as we are gathered here today to celebrate my beloved wife and queen, I would like to use this occasion to announce the upcoming competition among the princes, which will determine who becomes the next king of Waves." He declared.

The smile on Marina's face immediately disappeared. Whispers and murmurs broke out among the crowd because no one had been expecting an announcement like that. 

In the history of Waves, the law states that the first born son was always the one to take the throne and a competition for the throne, among the princes had never happened before but no one dared question the king, not even the members of his court could do that brazenly so Queen Marina was forced to maintain a smile even when her jaw was clenched tightly and her blood was boiling in anger.

The guests began to whisper among themselves about what could possibly be going on in king Rutherford's mind for him to make such an announcement? Everyone had expected Prince Nolan to become the next king, even though he was not yet officially the crown prince, everyone already saw him as one.

Prince Nolan was the perfect prince to the people. The kind, intelligent, handsome and responsible first son of his father and Queen Marina, they all believed that he would make a perfect ruler. He was the Kingdom's heartthrob and none of the princes were as popular as he was, not even his beautiful sister, Princess Anya.

Prince Arthur who was seated alongside his brothers had the same stunned expression on his face just like everyone else as soon as he heard his father's announcement but a smirk soon appeared on his face.

"Your majesty," the prime minister of the kingdom began softly as he leaned towards the direction of the king, "what prompted a sudden decision like this? It has never happened before, tradition requires Prince Nolan, your first born son to ascend the…"

"And why do we always have to go along with traditions and customs? While it is well known that the first Prince becomes the next king, I believe having the Princes prove to us just how worthy they are would be much more fun than just handing over the throne to one person." The king intentionally responded vaguely. 

"Or…" the king turned towards the direction of the princes, "Prince Nolan, do you also think my decision is not right?"

With a calm and collected look on his face, Prince Nolan rose from his feet and came to kneel in front of his father on one knee, his head bowed slightly as a sign of respect for the great king.

"If my King and Father thinks a competition is what is needed right now, then I will not hesitate to honor your command by competing with my brothers in the most honorable way possible. After-all, we are brothers and this would only make us all strong enough to defend this kingdom." Prince Nolan gave a perfect response.

So perfect that the crowd cheered for him and chanted his name. The fact that he had agreed to fairly compete with his brothers for a throne that was his by birthright made everyone see him in an even brighter light than they did before.

He was most likely going to win because none of the other Princes were as strong and smart as he was, so the people's confidence that he would become their king remained unfazed.

Regardless of the fact that Queen Marina was just as proud of her son's response as everyone else in the grand hall, she was a bit worried about the competition. She was confident in her son's skills and knew he would win but she couldn't help but feel uneasy because she didn't like the fact that the King was willing to hold a competition that would challenge her son's rightful position as the crown prince, especially when Prince Arthur would be one of his competitors.

She briefly glanced at him and as usual, his expression was unreadable. The boy was so strong willed that Queen Marina had a difficult time getting him to do her bidding.

The Queen watched Prince Arthur leave the hall while everyone raised a toast to the king and queens and she became even more worried because she knew that no matter how lowly Prince Arthur was, he still had a way of drawing the attention of the people and was undeniably strong.

One could never tell what the boy was up to and that was why she wasn't comfortable with the idea of him participating.

Prince Arthur on the other hand walked out of the hall with only one thought in his mind. He had finally gotten an opportunity to make everyone that had looked down on him and treated both him and his mother like scum, pay.

He was going to make them regret every single thing they did to him in the past and to do that he would have to become powerful, that was exactly why he was going to win that competition and become the crown prince.