Prince Sage walks down the street with a golden dagger in his hand. He sights a small beast and goes for it, without further thought, he grabs the beast and slashes its neck.
"My prince, be merciful!" An old lady cries while running towards him. It was nighttime but there were people walking around, some stopped to watch as the event unfolded, no one daring to speak a word.
"My prince, that beast is my only source of income," the old lady pleaded.
Sage sneered, his face darkening as he glares at the old lady. "Do you realize that you are making a great mistake, old woman?" He asked her, his voice devoid of softness.
"I know my prince, I know," the old lady cried. "But you have wronged me unjustly."
Hearing the word 'unjustly', Sage scoffed. "Then are you saying that I have to pay for what I have done?" He asked her. "That I have to apologize?"
"That is not what I meant to say my prince—" Before her words could be finalized, the sharp blade of the golden dagger made a clean cut on the old lady's neck.
She gasped and fell to the ground, the sky darkened the more and seconds after, rain began to pour down.
Sage watched the old lady's body soak in the rain, her blood flushed away by the heavy downpour. The dagger in his hand occasionally glimmered whenever a lightning flashed through the sky.
One by one, the onlookers walked away, mumbling incoherently to themselves. No one dared to speak openly or they would have their tongues neatly sliced out from their mouths.
"Let us go," Sage whispered and a young man walked out from the shadows and stood behind him.
"My prince, are you sure this will work?" The young man whose face was hidden by a mask asked him.
"If it doesn't, I'll kill myself," Sage replied with a confident look in his crimson eyes.
"You should not talk about taking your own life, my prince," the young man said but Sage didn't respond. "Well, my prince, you need to return to the palace. The rain is getting stronger."
Sage looked up at the dark sky and sighed. "Yes, it is indeed getting stronger. Let's return."
With that, the both of them returned to the palace and Sage went straight to his chambers while the young man disappeared the moment they arrived.
"What is this I hear, Prince Sage!" A young woman with golden hair asked as she walks towards Sage's open chambers.
"What did you hear, mother?" Sage asked in return, continuing his walk to his inner chambers.
"Don't pretend like you don't know, Prince Sage," the lady bellowed, her emerald-green eyes glaring hatefully at Sage who didn't fail to notice it.
He let out a soft chuckle and then began to undress, right in front of the queen.
"You know what, mother," he continued as he took off his wet robes and handed it to the female servant by his right.
To undress him should be the work of the servants but for some reason, he was the one doing it by himself.
"It seems you are spying on me," he whispered, but his whispers were loud enough for the queen to hear. Sensing her anger, he smirked before continuing. "Do you know that it is very wrong to spy on the prince? The crown prince for that matter."
"So, so what are you saying?" The queen asked him, sounding very displeased and angered. "Are you going to report me to the king?"
"No," Sage replied. He pulled down his undergarments and the maid gasped and fell to her knees immediately with her head lowered. Maids were not supposed to see the nakedness of any royal member. Once they do, they would lose their heads.
The queen however remained standing but she turned around, giving him her full back. It was also wrong for the queen to see the nakedness of the crown prince.
"You'll have to do that yourself," Sage muttered, causing the queen to gasp. "Yes," Sage continued and then turned around. Seeing her give him her back, he chuckled lightly. "Turn around," he said in a low tune.
"Whatever you are planning, I will definitely not fall for it," the queen said and prepared to leave. "You are going to fall one day, I assure you," she whispered before leaving.
After she was gone, Sage sighed and signalled to the maid to stand.
"Prepare me water to bath," he said to her and then she bowed and left immediately.
Now he was alone, he sighed deeply and sat on the bed. He then gazed at the portrait on his wall — A portrait of a woman and two children.
"Just wait, mother, soon, I assure you, soon," just as he finished mumbling, a knock came at his door and then a young man walked in.
Seeing the prince naked, he sighed and turned around. "My prince, you shouldn't be seen naked," the young man said in a respectful voice. "Or do you intend to punish all your maids for breaking the rule?"
"I have no business with the maids," Sage replied. "Come over."
The young man slowly turned around and seeing that the prince had covered his body, he sighed in relief and went in.
"My prince, the king your father sent me to inform you that there will be a party at the royal garden. Your presence is needed," the young man announced.
"If I don't come, did he say anything concerning that?" Sage asked the young man.
"He didn't say anything but both of us knows that he won't let it slide. As the crown prince, your presence is highly needed beside the king," the young man replied.
Sage sighed once more. He hated attending ceremonies, secondly, he wished to defile the orders of the king, his father.
"I have heard you, tell him that I will come," he said to the young man who after glancing at him bowed and then left quietly.
'Does the king really need me to appear before him because he is proud to have a son like me? Or does he just want to make me see him in his drunken state and be proud to have someone like him as a father and a king?'
Sage thought as he gazed at the entrance door.
Born in the royal family, Sage hated his life and his destiny. He never wanted to be a prince, never wanted to belong to any royal family, and never wanted things to be at his beck and call.
He was living a fine life as a hunter, hunting and providing for his mother and little sister but things just had to go sour when the king claimed to be his father.
His mother also agreed to have had an affair with the king resulting in her carrying a child and giving birth to a male child.
Sage's question had always been 'Why didn't the king come for him ever since. Why must it be now?'
Before he could realize what was happening, they had moved to the royal palace — A place embodying all kinds of characters.
The first and true queen; Vera, a beauty to behold. Even in her old age, she still shined like the day's sun. Unfortunately, she couldn't carry a child for the king and since then, had lost her beauty in the eyes of the citizens. To them, she was an empty container, a barren tree, incapable of producing fruits.
The second queen; Veronica, a lady, bold and vigorous. Her golden hair spoke loudly of her title as the princess of the golden - star kingdom, a neighboring kingdom on the East. Born a princess, she never lacked anything and married to a king, things were highly easy for her. But when it was time for her to do her part, she failed.
She gave birth to the first boy but unfortunately, he died instantly. She gave birth to the second one, he also died, same thing happened to the third child until she finally have birth to a set of male twins. Their joy knew no bounds and she was pampered.
As if fate was toiling with her, when it was time for the twins to start walking, they discovered that they were crippled — walking will be a difficult thing for the two princes.
Having come to the realization that he may end up losing his inheritance, the king was forced to remember his past affair with one of his maids.
This was how Sage ended up in the royal palace, but even with all the special treatments given to him, they refused his mother and sister any of those. They made them work as maids instead of royals.
This of course maddened Sage but being new in the palace, he maintained a dumb personality, learning the king's habit of drinking to stupor and fooling around.
People thought he was actually a fool, but only him and a few persons knew the truth and the reason behind his act.