Chapter 1: The Beginning Part 1

"Kill him," she ordered the assassin.

She was the Queen of Quirinus and the daughter of King Theron Arie Castellanos from the neighbouring country, Queen Rowena Slyvia Quirinus. She was so beautiful that no one could deny otherwise. Her silvery hair shines as it touches the light and her eyes were as golden as the gold of hives, which was the symbol of royalty of the kingdom of Castellanos. Many proposals came from every corner of the world, but her father refused all of them. The moment she was born, her father already planned her life. That was to conquer the kingdom of Quirinus, the most prosperous and powerful kingdom.

At the age of merely sixteen, she was wed to the present king, King Austen Zeno Quirinus, who was twenty-two years old. He was ready to inherit his father's throne, but without a wife in hand, his father postponed the coronation. His father planned to retire as he thought it was the right time to pass down his title so he could grow old comfortably without pressured.

As they got married, King Austen inherited the throne. He tried to give her love, though he knew he didn't feel love. The Queen gains many supporters by using her looks and witty. She was never out of luck.

Some would said that she was perfect and blessed by the Goddess. She believed it as well, until a sudden wave that came unnoticed. That day, just like any other day, the king brought home a woman with a beautiful light blue hair. She was gentle, kind, and beautiful. His majesty was mesmerized by her beauty and kindness, to an extent he just proposed her right at that moment. Her name is Claudia. She, who has someone to protect, accepted the proposal. She left her lover without saying goodbye. She knew she had to do it to protect him, the man she loved, the man who was sought by the kings of Quirinus for almost all his life.

The king favors his mistress Claudia more than the Queen. She was granted a noble title, with a reason that she was kind and selfless in helping the need. His majesty gave her a surname, as she was a commoner and an orphan who doesn't even have one. Now her name is Baroness Claudia Amara Prulus.

A year has come, she was blessed with a beautiful and healthy baby boy, Prince Alexander Nyx Quirinus. As soon as he was born, he had the role not only as the first prince but the crown prince. Celebration was held throughout the kingdom for the whole week and the neighbouring kings didn't waited to extend their congratulations and blessing. It was a memorable day, the birth of the first prince.

Despite the happy times, there was also a clouded times. Those who were disagree for the first prince to be the crown prince would crawl out of their shell and fire their disagreement. Thus that was the beginning of the royal faction disruption. Some who followed the first prince would make their own faction, called Quiris. They would debate daily about this disagreement. This all happened only because the first prince was an illegitimate child of the king. The king, who was aware of this problem, adopted the first prince to be his own, so he will have the right to inherit the throne.

The Queen was jealous and anxious. At first, here tactic to gain back what she lost was light. She would go to the king's bedchamber each night in hoping she would be granted with a son. Though a year passed with nothing or luck on her side. The king would always refused her or busying himself with works. She grew restless each day as she started to lose power and supporters. She worried that his father would be furious, as she still had not gained the King of Quirinus trust and love. That was the only outcome that she had to achieve for her father to achieve his goals.

At first she planned to kill Lady Claudia, but she thought this wouldn't change anything, as the prince would still be alive. So that was the reason she planted an assassin to kill the first prince, who was only two years old at that time. Many attempts have been made, but all of them failed.

Once, he was poisoned, but luckily his nanny noticed the silver spoon turned black. She hurriedly grabbed his hand. The prince was still small at that time, but he was already fed himself, as instructed. As the crown prince and the king-to-be, weaknesses and shortcomings are unacceptable. As he was born in this world, his duty already befall him and age is just a number. They believed that there was no time to play and dawdle because to be a great king you need strength, not weaknesses. Thanks to his nanny, the poison only touches his tongue, so he survived. Though he was bedridden for more than a month, as it was lethal. He was also once kidnapped, but was saved by a troop led by Marquees Wilhelmus. Marquess Fotios Wilhelmus was a royal commander of the kingdom. He was exceptionally strong and the enemies of the kingdom who met him would tremble in fear.

The prince last nanny was killed, though many believed it was suicide. The Queen hired the new nanny for him. As she was the one who had the highest authority of the royal household. The nanny would always give him spoilt food. He was only a child who was weak and fragile. If he refused, he would be forced and if he cries, his nanny will hit him. She was the nanny, so she didn't afraid of doing what was she doing. All the prince's necessities will be done by her, the nanny herself. In the eyes of others, she was taking care of him, but actually she was abusing him. He was only child, so tears will come and go, but every time he sees her nanny he would trembled in fear until one day he fell sick in bed. He was sick, with all the abused and the spoilt food that was given to him. The nanny was reprimanded and hanged for threatening the royal prince.

The next attempt was drowning. He was pushed into a pond, and with his tiny short leg, he couldn't do anything but gasping for air and survival. Luckily, at that time a knight who was passing by saw the prince and saved him from the brink of death. He was bedridden for almost a week. He was so small at that time, even a light touch could turn his skin red. As he was lying in bed, the next attempt came unannounced. The maid who was disguised tried to choke him to death. However, it was as the Goddess helping him and he survived once again. This time, his mother was the one who saw everything and shouted for help to save him.

Inside the Queen's chamber. The assassin who got lucky from the sudden encounter by Lady Claudia came to report to her master, Queen Rowena. At that time, she was sipping her tea, waiting for good news. As she knew, the prince was unconscious in bed, so it would be too easy to kill him right now.

"You can't even kill a two years old child and you called yourself an assassin?"

She threw a vase towards the assassin, who disguised as a maid. She was furious as her plan continued to fail.

"I'm sorry, your majesty. Please give me one more chance. I will make sure I kill him this time."

The assassin pleaded on her knee and begged her. As an assassin, she has to complete her job, or she would be killed for bringing shame to the assassin guild.

"Fine. I'll give you one last time. Seat here."

She said furiously and ordered her to seat on the chair next to her.

"I'm too tired. Nothing's worked out," she said as she called someone to massage her.

"Bring new tea," she said.

When the tea arrived, she drank it with the assassin. A few seconds after the assassin drank the tea, she felt out of breath and her chest felt like it was being squeezed. Her face turned blue and she fell down on the floor. The Queen continued to sip her tea, watching her breathe her last breath.

"Throw her down the cliff," she ordered the other assassin who was in hiding. She hired him just for an assurance in case plans didn't work out. Now, the female assassin was nothing but a disposal.

The Queen was frustrated but Lady Claudia was anxious. Both of them have something to protect, and only one could win.

"Melina, I can only trust you. Please help me. Save my son. Save Lex. Please. Take him away from here. Please. It's not safe here."

Lady Claudia's tears fell down heavily as she begged her maid. The one who was always by her side since the beginning. The one she thought as her own sister.

"My lady, please stand up. I will help you." She said as she helped her up.

"Thank you, Melina. I will forever be in your debt." Lady Claudia sniffled and she felt a little relieved that Melina would help her.

"You should move out tonight. We don't have time," Lady Claudia held Melina's arms forcefully. She was afraid that even a second late, the lives of her son would be forever gone.

"Alright, my lady. We will go to my village. It's a small village, so it will be safe there," she said.

"Come here at the strike at midnight. I will get Lex ready."

Lady Claudia was so devastated because she would lost her only son but felt a little relieved knowing he would be safe, far away from here from the treacherous and tyranny place.