Birthday party and Marriage Contract (2)

Klaus wondered why the 3rd prince is looking at him with hatred. He has never been to the empire's capital. To be fair it is very far away and it would be a waste of time and resources if there is nothing to do in the capital.

However, his father did go to the capital as he is the archduke. Moreover, his brothers are all attending the Imperial Academy.

Did one of my brothers clash with him or is it the politics at play? If those idiots try to do anything, there would be hell to pay.

Klaus had a feeling that once the system awakens, his power would rise exponentially. He is sure that he could cross all the top powers of the empire. The only problem is that he didn't know the exact day the system would awaken. So he decided to lay low and try not to get provoked by others.

Ignoring the prince Klaus continued his tour. After some time his father brought Klaus to the prince, introducing both of them to each other.

"Klaus this is the third prince, Prince Aminor", his father spoke.

The prince spoke sarcastically, "Congratulations and happy birthday, Klaus of Food Pond".

Klaus gave a courtesy bow to the prince, "Nice to meet you 'Third Prince' Aminor. It's good that you were free to come to my party".

Elloden didn't understand what was happening. He was sure that these have never met each other but he can sense hostility between them, especially from the prince towards his son.

The Garden and Food Pond are the names of the restaurants owned by Klaus. The Garden is for nobles and rich merchants, while Food Pond is for commoners. If the prince wanted to praise, he should have mentioned both or the one that serves nobles but his mentioning the other one means only one thing. The prince is looking down on Klaus.

He knows that there are only a few reasons why the prince showed hostility.

One, the royal family is trying to pull down his family.

Two, his three sons had a feud with the prince or someone related to the royal family.

The above two reasons didn't hold to the reason as the prince is only showing hostility to Klaus and him only. There is contempt towards his family but for some reason, he is hostile towards Klaus.

The only reason for that would arise if they both met.

Elloden shook his head. He can't figure out the reason. Klaus has never left the archduchy. Most of his time was spent in Kralin. The only other places he visited are the places where his restaurants are established. He didn't expand outside the archduchy.

Though his products made sales outside, they shouldn't be a reason for a prince to act like this. He can't figure out the reason.

On the other side, the prince understood what Klaus meant. After his father, his older brother, the first prince would inherit the throne. Even if by bad luck he couldn't, the throne goes to the second prince.

As a third prince, he wouldn't get as much care as the first two. The first becomes the emperor while the second would reach the rank of commander. This is what happened for a long time. Unless there is a civil war rising between the brothers, the first son's line would stay in the spotlight while others fade away.

Especially as the third prince, he can never reach the spotlight. This is a sore point for him and Klaus mentioned this because he was aware of the intricacies of the succession. Unless civil war or a fair competition was held by the emperor, the first son was guaranteed to inherit the throne.

He was enraged but he also know that he had to maintain a facade.

"Hahaha, I heard you awakened as a mage whereas most of your family are knights. Is that right?"

"Yes".

"Oh, good to hear. I too am a mage myself. I recently reached Tier-2. If you need some pointers you can always come to me. We can even have occasional spars and duels".

Klaus understood what the prince wanted. The prince wanted to humiliate Klaus and his family. He is already Tier-2. He has the best resources.

'If that is what you want then I would entertain you'.

"From what I hear you are one among the proteges of the empire. How can I waste such talent's time with spars".

"You don't have to be worried about that. I can make time for a spar".

'You don't want to back down, do you? In that case...'

"Hmm, how about this? As you can see, I awakened just today, so fighting against you is a long shot. From what I heard there is a competition that is going to be held in two years. We can use the competition for our duel."

The prince who wanted to humiliate Klaus felt that the competition would be good ground. There would be a lot of nobles from the empire attending the event. The two years would also let him reach Tier-3. He can show the nobles and the emperor his power and humiliate Klaus at the same time. So he readily agreed.

<You didn't let others crush your pride or that of your family.>

<You have completed the hidden condition.>

<Host has been awarded the Sin of Pride>

<You got the passive skill, Touch of Pride>

[Touch of Pride: When facing an enemy above your rank, you'll be temporarily given the power of a higher rank. The power level up wouldn't exceed two ranks. The skill can't be upgraded.]

<You got the passive skill, Will of Pride>

[Will of Pride: Defeating or killing a prideful enemy would award Sin Points. The award rate depends on the pride of the enemy. The skill can't be upgraded.]

<System was forcefully awakened.>

<New feature, Sin Shop, now available.>

<Energy Insufficient...>

<Other features are locked.>

<You can now use Interface and Sin Shop.>

[Sin Shop: Various items can be purchased using sin points.]