The Story of the Prince Pt. 1

*I messed up on the third prince's age last chapter. He should be 19 if all the math is correct. Not 14. The ages of the siblings at this point in the story:

Saul: Current age- 29

Sunny: age at time of death- 25-26

Princess: 22, will be older once introduced. (She will get a name later)

Marcus: 19

Hope this fixes any issues *

Prince Saul POV

Being the first prince of the Beast Kingdom, it was my duty to protect this kingdom. I always dreamed of taking the throne and becoming its greatest leader. I've always told this to my parents and they encouraged me to do so. With a dream like that I had to train long and hard. However, it turned out I was quite clumsy and slow in my training.

"Come on prince! Swing at me!"

"You're too slow. You would have died here."

"Why would you say that to the nobles? That would cause people to hate you!"

"I don't know if you have talent to lead others Prince Saul."

Those were some of the things said to me growing up. Being the first prince, I had a lot of expectations set on me. My father was known as the Great King. People had hope that I could one day lead the kingdom the same way my father did. I didn't want to let them down, so I worked harder and harder to earn their acknowledgment.

My day started at 6 a.m. I washed myself and dressed myself in the morning. At 6:30, the maids would come in to wake me up. But since I was already up, I would follow the maid down for breakfast.

After breakfast, from 7 till 12, I had to study about history, politics and other skills needed to be a leader. Once that was done, I would eat lunch with my younger brother, the second prince. My parents would be here but the princess, my little sister was born. So, my parents would eat at different times than us. That was okay of course. At least I got to eat with my little brother, who was two years younger than me.

"Saul!!! Can you help me study during lunch before you have to go train? You teach me better than my teachers!"

This was something I was used to. Sunny, the second prince and my brother, would always ask me to teach him. He said the teachers were harsh on him and always said things like, he should be better than me or how he can't be like a failure like his older brother.

This made him hate his teachers so he would only ask me for help since he didn't want to depend on them.

"Of course, bring your book over here. I'll help you while we eat."

Lunch usually went on for an hour. After I helped Sunny with everything, he went for his afternoon studies. Since I was over 5 years old, I was allowed to take part in physical training. Which was my next classes. Even here, it was still hard for me.

I was slow. Even if I was young, I was still considered slow for my age.

"Your father could slay beast three times his size at your age."

"Your father could keep up with me when he was your age."

"If you cry from this hit, then how can you ever compare to your father."

Those were the common things I heard during these sessions. At first, I couldn't understand why they always brought him up. I wasn't even 10 years old yet. Of course, there was no way I could match my old man. He was a beast since he was born. I began to use my father as motivation. One day, they will talk about how strong and monstrous I am.

This sort of training continued until I was 10 years old. I was finally able to manipulate mana and incorporate it into my physical training. But that was also where things began to change for me.

My little sister was finally old enough to take care of herself. But at that point my second brother, Marcus the third prince was born. I thought that father and mother would never see my training practices. They would be to busy with my new brother to care. Oh, how wrong I was.

My brother Sunny began his physical training with me when he turned 5. Now that I've turned 10, he had just turned 8. But even then, he was able to keep up with the trainers that I never could. I can keep up now but that's because of my mana control. Sunny was gifted unlike me.

One day my father showed up to one of our training sessions. This was the first time he showed up to any of my training. So, to show off a bit, I use as much mana as I could to strengthen my kicks and blows. I blew away my trainer. I was so happy, smiling I looked to him to see if he saw me. However, I forgot one thing. My brother Sunny was more like father than I was. When I turn to see if he saw me, instead he had his eyes glued on Sunny's fight. Even clapping when Sunny knocked the trainer down.

"Well done son! You're just as talented as I was. One day you will make a great leader."

Leader? Him? Just because he can throw stronger punches than me? What about me?! I studied hard! I read all the political books! I studied hard too?! I can finally throw strong punches now too!? You never once said anything to me?!

That day, I decide to avoid the man known as the king. Whenever I saw him, I would pretend to look the other way. When he talked to me, I act like I didn't hear him. A man that picked favorites wasn't worthy of being my father.

After that day, I stopped training with the trainers and requested to train alone. The King granted my wish but I was to have my guards with me at all times.

I left the Beast Kingdom and headed towards the forest just outside of it. There I would train for weeks on end, only coming back to the capital to see my little sister and little Marcus.

When I was 13, there was a day when my mother, the Queen asked for me to talk to her.

I met her in her personal garden, an area she invited people for tea and talks.

"How's you're training Saul? Are you hurt often? Are you getting enough food? Enough sleep?"

Before I could sit down, she was firing off questions already. I'm glad my mother cares for me. At least one of them did.

"I'm doing fine. The guards make me take breaks in between. How are you?"

"I'm doing just fine too. Marcus is turning 5 soon so I am just making sure he will be ready."

"That's good. Hopefully he's better than I was."

I try to say it in a more monotone voice but I ended up letting out a hint of sadness.

"Saul… why don't you talk to your father? He's just been so busy with other things that he wasn't able to watch your training."

Here we go again. She always tries to do this.

"There's no reason to. The King is busy with the crown prince. He doesn't have time to meet with someone like me."

That's right. I was 10 years old, just left the kingdom and had only been in the forest for a week when I heard the news.

The Beast King had chosen the crown prince. Prince Sunny will be taking over the throne once he proves himself worthy.

I was furious. I wanted so much to be like him… I wanted to be like the King. I worked hard to understand the laws and how noble relationships worked by myself. I fought the trainers late into the night, bleeding and tired, just so I could land one hit on them.

Just because Sunny could fight better than me, he deserved the crown?! He didn't even understand the different laws! I had to help him every single time!

"If that's all you want to talk about then I'm leaving."

I left without saying bye to my mother.

After that visit, I vowed to not return home until I had gotten stronger.

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For the next two years, I trained harder and harder than I ever could. I had learned about Death's Aura when I was younger so I took the time to raise it. By the time I was 15, my Death's Aura was at 10 %. I was proud of it. Gaining that much by only killing and hunting the beasts in the forest.

I wanted more though; my strength had plateaued it seemed. No matter what, it became harder to raise my Death's Aura. My mana manipulation seemed to fall behind as well. I would lose focus sometimes and my mana would weaken in places I wanted it to be strong. I needed a new training method. But one night, I was approached by a tall hooded man.

"Hello Prince Saul. It's an honor to finally meet you."

I was returning back to the camp site where my guards were when the man appeared.

He was standing at least 6 feet tall. None of his facial features could be seen since he was covering it.

No matter how suspicious the man was, I still had to greet him.

"Hello, it's dangerous to travel alone in this forest. You could have waited for me to return to the capital if you wanted to talk."

"Oh, but it's been 2 years, 7 months, and 6 days since you've returned, no? I got tired of waiting."

I felt a chill down my spine. Who was this man. I unleashed my 10% Death's Aura and prepared myself in case I was attacked.

"Who the hell are you?! I would like it if you told me the truth, otherwise, I will have to take your life here."

The man just giggled, almost childlike, which made me even more uncomfortable.

He suddenly disappeared. I lost track of him. I tried to stay calm but then I felt someone hug me from behind. Making me lose my calm.

"Oi Oi, don't hit me. I'm only here to propose something to you, my prince. Why don't you listen before attacking me."

He then lets me go but I still can't move. That's when I realize something. I was scared. Terrifyingly scared for my life. The man had unleashed a 40 % Death's Aura onto me.

"That's good. Now, I am here to let you know how you can get stronger, you'll be stronger than the King even!"

'Stronger than the king? Is that even possible?'

"So, you are interested. I can tell you how to get stronger. But in return, I will ask you to return the favor someday."

For some reason, I could feel my emotions become jumble and mix together. I couldn't think straight. Something was messing with me.

"What is your answer prince? Would you like to know?"

What am I hesitating for? This is what I wanted right? Who cares what favor he asks for. Nothing could beat gaining the strength that I've yearned for.

"Of course, I will accept whatever favor you want in exchange for this knowledge."

The man leans close to me and whispers into my ear.

"Since you can't use magic, the fastest way to get stronger is to fight and raise your Death's Aura. But you don't have to hunt beasts down to raise it, oh no, that is not the only way."

The man pauses for a moment then continues.

"Another way to raise your Death's Aura quickly is to kill your own kind."

I pushed the man away. He seriously thinks that I would fall for this.

"If only I knew you were wasting my time."

I walk away from the man, heading towards the campsite again.

"Remember boy. I will come back one day for that favor. If you don't trust me then you can ask those guards. The entire royale guards and army knows about it. It was your father. The King who told them. Don't tell me he didn't tell you?"

I continue walking away but now my head was filled with angry and confusion.

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"Prince Saul! Welcome back, please sit down. We have prepared the food for the night."

When I got back to the campsite, one of my guards greeted me while the others waved at me from the campfire. But all I could think about was the man said.

The King knew how to get stronger but he didn't tell me? Why? Was he afraid I would get stronger than Sunny and try to take over? Did he look down on me that much?! He knew how much I wanted to become king someday! But he never even watched me, trained me or gave me advice. He saw Sunny once and now he's the crown prince?!

THEY TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME! EVERYTHING THAT WAS SUPPOSE TO BE MINE!

"Prince are you okay?"

One of the guard walks in front of me but all I could think of was what the man said.

'Kill your own kind if you want to quickly raise your Death's Aura.'

There are four guards here. I can test it on them, right? Nothing will go wrong right?

I unleash my Death's Aura over the entire area and gather all my mana into my feet. I need to move quickly.

I kick off the ground and behead the guard in front of me.

"Something is wrong with the prince!"

The other three guards were on alert now but that didn't matter. I was faster.

I moved in between the three of them and cut them down in an instant. All three of their bodies slump down, not truly understanding why the person they were suppose to protect had killed them.

I checked my Death's Aura. 14 % Death's Aura. It took me 2 years to get to 10% but with just four killed I gained 4% instantly!

"The man was right! HAHAAHA, with this I can get stronger. HAHAAHAHA!!"

I return home to the Beast Kingdom.

Finally, after many years, I see a future for me.