THE BASTARD PRINCE

WINTER Percival de Albion was the second prince of the Kingdom of Albion. An incomparable genius with an SS level Gift. The most favored son of the King. The likely heir to the throne. But before he became all that, he's just a boy from a small village living alone with his beautiful mother. It all changed five years ago. When he opened the door to a man wearing the most majestic clothes and with hair and eyes the same color as his own.

The man introduced himself as his father. Winter didn't doubt him. After all, they looked almost alike. Like two peas in the same pod. The man told him that he would take him away and that they would live together. Winter was ecstatic when he heard that. Because he always wanted to meet his father. He was always envious of the other children in the village who have their mothers and fathers with them. Now, he didn't have to be envious of them anymore. He was so happy, he didn't even notice the horrified look of his mother when she saw his father standing in front of their doorstep.

By the time he understood everything, it was already too late.

His father took him to a castle much bigger than the whole village he grew up in. He was amazed and in awe. He couldn't believe that he's going to live in such a place from now on. But he couldn't truly be happy because his mother was left in the village. His father said that she still had to prepare some things before she could join them. Winter didn't doubt him. So he only told his mother that she should finish whatever it was she's supposed to do so they could all be together. His mother only showed him a very sad smile before hugging him tightly.

When they reached the castle, Winter learned the identity of his father. He's not just anyone. He's the most revered king of their kingdom. And suddenly, Winter became a prince. Before he could even adapt to his new identity, he met his brothers and sisters. And the queen. The moment he met them, he realized one very important thing. His mother didn't have anything she should finish, she stayed at the village because she couldn't go with them. Because his father already had a wife. That moment was the start of his hellish life.

He faced the hatred of his half-siblings everyday, the cold eyes of the queen, and the obvious disgust of the palace's servants. It's fine. He could handle all that. What he couldn't take was what his father told him. That he couldn't see his mother anymore. That the moment he stepped in this castle, he already became the second prince of this kingdom. That as a prince, he had his own set of responsibilities. So he should forget about his mother because she was no longer a part of his life.

That's when Winter finally understood the meaning of his mother's sad smile. Because she probably knew that they will never see each other again. How stupidly naive he was. To think that the happiness that day brought him, gave her mother unending grief. From then on, his heart started to be covered in a layer of ice.

Later on, Winter discovered that the only reason that his father came looking for him was because he found out about the result of his Gift assessment. None of the four children of the king and the queen inherited the king's SS level ice Gift. The highest one was the first princess who has an S level ice Gift. Which disappointed the king for so many years. Until he found out about Winter. Unlike his other children, Winter inherited his superior level Gift. So the first chance he got, he immediately took him back and legally registered him on the royal family's ancestral line.

Winter's heart just became colder and colder after that.

As years went by, he stopped asking the king about his mother. Because he knew, he would never get a proper answer. But he had to do something to at least ensure his mother's safety. Because even at an early age, he understood that those people who were against him would sooner or later use his mother to subdue him. So he made a deal with the king. He would be an obedient and outstanding prince as long as the king made sure that no harm will fall on his mother. Of course he had to provide proof every year that his mother was living well.

The only reason he could think of why the king agreed with this deal was probably because Winter didn't ask to see or to talk with his mother. It probably gave his selfish prick of a father a false sense of security. Knowing that he will never try to run off as long as he ensured his mother's safety. Because as long as he didn't run or cause trouble, then the king could cultivate him as the heir to the throne without any worries.

Winter accepted his new role. He learned everything that his father wanted him to. National policies, economics, history - everything that could make him a great ruler in the future. But he didn't forget to use all the resources given to him by his father to his advantage. Because he couldn't fight against the king right now. Hell, he couldn't even fight against the queen. So he woildn't hesitate to use his father's ambition for him. Not until he's strong enough to fight back.

But the king's favor towards him didn't stop others from scheming against him. Particularly his eldest half-brother. He was hell-bent on destroying Winter. Because of the obvious reason that he wanted the crown for himself. Too bad the king didn't even put him in his eye. If not for the queen, their father probably has long thrown the first prince out of the palace.

It was also because of this stupid eldest brother that Winter was put on house arrest in this small county. His youngest brother's pet - a rare snow wolf - went missing. It was just a cub so it couldn't have gotten far. The wolf was a gift from the queen, so she personally sent all the available guards in the palace to look for it. After looking in almost all parts of the palace, his good eldest brother 'kindly' suggested to look in everyone's room.

Winter already had a bad hunch after he heard that. Sure enough, the corpse of the wolf cub was magically found in his room. In his closet no less. His eldest brother immediately took that chance to accuse him of killing the cub. Of course their father didn't believe him. There wasn't even a concrete evidence that Winter did it. But in order to appease the queen, the king still decided to punish him. Then, the first princess timely suggested that the king could put Winter in a house arrest for a week. And so, he ended up here.

He wondered at first why the first princess suddenly suggested that. But now, experiencing this excruciating pain, as if his whole body was being torn into pieces, he understood.

The king sent a couple of his loyal guards to go with him along with several servants. This morning, Mishla Greaves - the Earl of Brightmore and the eldest son of the Duke of Wakefield - came for a surprise visit. He invited him to go hunt in the woods. Winter wanted to kick him out but he knew he wouldn't stop annoying him until he agreed. So after eating breakfast, they went to the woods together with some of the guards.

Ten minutes after that, Winter noticed that something was wrong with his body. His Mana started to riot and without any warning his Gift just went out of control. Ice spread everywhere in a blink of an eye. The guards with them were immediately caught by the ice. Mishla managed to get away just because his Gift was the opposite of his - fire.

It was hard to think with all the pain he was feeling. But he knew for certain that it was impossible for him to get out of control unless someone did something to him. Then he remembered the breakfast he just had. Something must have been put in his food or his drink. Some kind of chemical that could agitate the Mana flow in someone's body. One of the servants probably did it. The face of the first princess came into his mind and his insistence of putting him in this place for house arrest. He would laugh if he could. Looks like he's still as stupidly naive as ever.

So this was her plan. To have him go berserk near the land of a Duke. If no one could stop him in time, then he could seriously hurt or even kill innocent people. The punishment for that would certainly be much bigger compared to killing the pet of a prince. He gritted his teeth in anger. That fox!

He bit his lower lip and tried to endure the pain. He wanted to stop the uncontrollable flow of his Mana, but he just couldn't. If this continues, he will lose consciousness sooner or later and who knows what kind of tragedy he would wake up to. He just hoped that Mishla will be able to find help or at least warn the people nearby.

Winter looked ahead. He wasn't sure if it was his eyes playing tricks on him. But he just saw a small shadow running towards his direction.

----------

"Young Lady, please come with me," Felicia said while trying her best to stop Aurum from running towards the forest.

"No! Let go! Let go!" Aurum shouted, wildly flailing her arms and legs to get out of Felicia's hold. "I said let go!"

Felicia suddenly felt small needles attacked her brain. She whimpered and held her head with both hands, letting go of Aurum.

Aurum glanced back at Felicia because she suddenly let her go. She saw her holding her head and whimpering in pain. She immediately understood that it was because of her Gift. Aurum looked at her bracelet. She saw a crack on one of the small crystals. No. No. No. She couldn't lose control. She couldn't break this bracelet. It was something her brother gave her, so she couldn't. She needed to calm down. Calm down. Calm down.

Felicia reached out to Aurum and held her hand. "L-let's go b-back, Y-young La... dy."

Felicia's action immediately calmed Aurum. Despite the pain she's feeling, she still tried to stop Aurum. And even now, there was still no fear in her eyes. That drastically lessen Aurim's annoyance towards her and felt that she could tolerate her more now. "I will stay here. You go back to the manor and tell Mother what's happening."

Felicia felt that there was no pain in her brain anymore but she didn't have time to worry about that because of what the Young Lady said. "You can't. The Young Lord said we should go back together."

"I will stay here and wait for my brother. You can't change my mind. So don't waste time and go!"

"B-but--"

"I won't go after Brother. I will stay right here. So just go!"

Felicia's expression was full of hesitation. But at the end, she had no choice but to agree with the Young Lady. Because she's right. They would just continue to waste time arguing here. "Young Lady you must promise that you won't go in the forest. Or else the Young Lord will surely be mad at you."

"I know."

That's right, her brother would surely be mad at her. Even though she really wanted to go after her brother, after calming down, she knew she could do nothing even if she did. So she had no choice but to stay here and wait for her brother. Because she had no doubt in her mind, that Argent will come back.

Felicia ran towards one of the horses and rode away. Aurum looked back at the forest.

"Brother..."

----------

After going through that huge ice wall and disintegrating most of the ice that came after, Argent finally saw the source of it all. It was a boy, probably ten, eleven years old, with icy blue hair. He was crouching down on the ground, his body, writhing. He looked up at her and saw a pair of pale blue eyes. There was ice forming on his eyelashes, even his lips were already turning blue. He's probably feeling a lot of pain right now based on his body's body language. But that pain didn't translate on his face. It remained cold and impassive.

Argent suddenly thought that she had already seen this face somewhere. So she immediately searched the original owner's memory and sure enough, she quickly found this boy's identity. The second prince - Winter Percival de Albion. No wonder this forest could be turned into an ice forest in a matter of minutes. She heard that the members of the royal family of Albion tend to be ice Gift users. And in the current generation, this boy in front of her was the most powerful.

This second prince was quite famous. Not just because of his outstanding abilities, but because of his origin. If she remembered correctly, his mother was a famous opera singer. She had an affair with the king and when she found out that she was pregnant, she ran away. That's why the nobles have another name for the result of the union of the king and the opera singer.

The bastard prince.

Winter saw a boy with silver hair that perfectly curled around his face. With that pale skin added to the soft contours of his face, he should have looked very delicate. But instead, he just exuded indifference. It's those eyes. It's as if nothing or no one could enter it. He furrowed his brows when he realized there was really someone in front of him. Why the heck was the current Duke of Hanover here?

"Leave," Winter bit out.

Argent ignored him and knelt down. She observed him. Despite his cold face, it's very obvious how much pain he's currently experiencing. The more pain he felt, the more out of control his Mana would be. And it would be more troublesome for them, especially if this ice got out of this forest. She tried to reach out for his hand so she could put the nullum bracelet on him. But before she could do that, she was violently pushed. She probably flew a few feet away because of that.

"I said leave!"

Argent stood up, feeling the pain from her backside. She glared at this bastard prince. This was probably the first time she felt so annoyed. She strode towards him.

"Leav--"

Before he could finish what he's saying, she already raised her hand and slapped him. "If you tell me to leave one more time, I will punch the shit out of you. So calm the heck down."

Winter was slapped. It didn't have much force. It didn't even add to the pain he's already feeling. But the slap itself was more shocking to him than having his Gift go out of control. Before he could form any sort of reaction, Argent already knelt in front of him and took one of his hand. Then he saw him tying some kind of bracelet on his wrist. And suddenly, all the pain stopped. He couldn't even feel the flow of his Mana.

He looked at the bracelet unbelievably. But before he could say anything, his consciousness started to slip away. And then everything turned black.