THE DOOMED PRINCE

Three days after the Edelweiss Ritual… Shepherdsground City, the imperial capital of the Terraluna Empire…

The streets of Shepherdsground were always bustling with carriages and people. Given the enormity of the biggest city in Terraluna, the main roads of Shepherdsground never went silent nor empty. Be it day or night.

On this particular day, however, one street was more crowded than ever. It was the one that led to the Imperial Palace which was located right at the center of the city.

Strolling on this packed road was a crimson-haired woman wearing a plain white hooded robe. She amongst the ocean-like crowd whom were wearing similar hooded robe as her were all making their way toward the palace.

"Dear Cecilia! Look at how massive that place is!"

The woman looked ahead and saw the towering silver castle surrounded by high walls in the distance. It was none other than the Playan Imperial Palace. The home of the Emperor's throne and the place where the Emperor and his family resided.

The woman walked and walked through the street of Shepherdsground till she reached the huge dark gate which served as the entrance to the Playan Imperial Palace.

When she arrived there, several of really long queues of hundreds of magicians had already been formed in front of the gate. They were all lining up to enter the palace through the inspection checkpoint in front of the gate.

The woman then joined the line and queued patiently till her turn arrived. As she waited, she could see mages walking out from inside the palace and, in turn, caused the ones waiting in front of the line to enter.

After waiting for about an hour and a half, the woman made it to the checkpoint. She was welcomed by a knight in heavy armor.

"Hello, my name is Nadia Noelle. I'm here for the mage selection!" introduced the woman.

"Only mages with invitations are allowed to enter the palace and participate in the selection." said the knight. By the monotone sense of his voice, he apparently had said that exact line countless times already.

"I've received invitations after I passed the preliminary selections in the Temple of Cecilia in Patrona City!" said Nadia while producing several envelopes from her robe.

"Very well! Which Little Sun did you receive invitation from? Because you are only allowed access to their part of the palace within the Playan Imperial Palace."

"I have invitations from the Second Prince, the Third Princess, and the Third Prince." said Nadia as she read the envelopes in her hand.

"Three invitations? Color me impressed, miss!" said the knight. His tone was slightly more cheerful. "Then whose selection will you go to? I'm asking you this because we will be escorting the mages into the palace in batches based on the royalty of their choosing."

"Well, they said if I failed a selection for one of the Little Suns, I could try my luck with another as long as I have their invitation." said Nadia as she looked through her envelope. "And I was thinking of trying my luck with the eldest first. So that would be...the Second Prince."

The knight's expression turned disturbed. It was as if he was shocked by Nadia's decision.

"You might want to skip the Second Prince. Just go straight to the Third Princess." said the knight.

"Huh? Why?"

"You mean you didn't know? I thought you, mages, are supposed to be well-versed with the prophecy."

The gate behind them was suddenly opening, coming out from there were another set of mages who had done their selection trials. The mages from the lines who had passed their inspections then were being allowed inside in place of the ones coming out.

"We're holding the line. You must enter the palace now!" said the knight, allowing the crimson-haired woman to pass.

"But--"

"--just go with the group going for the Third Princess. Don't go for the Second Prince!"

"Wait! But why should I avoid the Second Prince?"

"Ask your fellow mages! They'll tell you!"

Nadia then made her way to the dark gate and stepped to the other side. She found herself inside a large courtyard filled with beautiful gardens, trees, and fountains.

"Whoah! Who knew the inside actually looks bigger!"

Nadia looked around and found seven carriages parked right by the spot she stood. Each of the carriage was carrying the mages that were lining up in front of the gate earlier and had finished inspection.

The crimson-haired woman approached the caravans and was welcomed by an elderly steward.

"To which Little Sun's residence are you heading, young madam?"

Nadia was then reminded of the knight's advice. Though she did not get the full explanation, but her instinct urged her to follow his words.

"I would like to go to the Third Princess's residence!"

"Very well!" said the steward and pointed to one of the seven carriages lined up there. "The carriage that will take you to the residence of Her Highness Princess Jasmine is the second one from the left."

Nadia then went to her designated carriage and boarded it. Inside she encountered five more mages heading for the Third Princess's residence. The carriage was already full and seeing this, the steward proceeded to close its door.

They all still waited a while longer for more mages to enter through the gate and boarded the other carriages till they reached their capacities. Some of the newly arrived mages who also wanted to go to the Third Princess's residence though waited outside till another carriage was brought to them.

The steward then signaled for the coachmen to set off as the carriages had been filled. They whipped the reins and six of the seven carriages rode off deeper into the courtyard.

Nadia noticed through the window the seventh carriage that was left behind. She found it to be empty despite having numerous mages waiting around it.

"Whose carriage back there that hasn't departed?" asked Nadia, turning to her fellow mages.

"That empty one? I believe it belongs to the Second Prince." answered a kind soul next to Nadia.

"The Second Prince?" said Nadia recalling the name. "The knight at the gate warned me to not go to the Second Prince's selection. He told me you guys would know why."

All the mages suddenly turned to Nadia and gave her a bewildered look. It was as if she just asked them the stupidest question ever.

"You seriously didn't know? What did you learn at your temple when you were studying magic?"

"Well I'm actually from the countryside and I learned magic from a clergyman who travelled to my village. And he only taught me the bare-minimum." said Nadia. "We didn't really get down to the theory a lot. Mostly just the practical side of things."

"Then why did you come for the selection?"

"I heard that they'd be holding some tests at a nearby temple from my village. And if I impressed the people judging the tests, I'd get a chance to work with one of the royalties and get a lot of money." said Nadia. "Since the people from my village thought I was good at magic, they encouraged me to give the test a shot."

"Dear Valeria, you really are clueless!" said one of the mages mockingly.

"Tell me, miss, do you know about the Ancient Prophecy of Terraluna?" asked the kind soul from before.

"Oh I know at least that! The one bestowed by Goddess Alpha and the Forbidden Goddess." said Nadia. "The mages back at the temple where I received my invitations could not stop talking about it."

"Then you're aware that the prophecy mentioned that one of the seven Little Suns will become an emperor that will bring the entire world to a grand new age."

"Of course, I'm aware! Isn't that why this selection is such a big deal? Because we want to be the mage who helped the prophesied Sun and bask in the glory and wealth we'll receive after escorting them to the throne." said Nadia.

"But are you also aware that there is an additional line to the Forbidden Goddess's prophecy?"

"There is an additional line? What does it say?"

"It went as so:

[And amongst the seven Little Suns, there will be one -different from the one that will become the Sun- who will be respected lower than even street dogs and will suffer the most horrible death existed.]

And that is how it go."

Nadia was immediately horrified by the prophecy.

"Dear Cecilia! You mean one of the emperor's children will suffer such terrible fate?" responded the crimson-haired woman.

"Indeed. The additional line isn't talked a lot in public because it speaks ill of the royalties." said the kind soul. "But, nonetheless, from the prophecy, we knew of what will happen to two of the seven Little Suns: One will become an exalted emperor. And another will be ruined."

"Do we know which Little Sun is which?" asked Nadia desperately.

"Everyone has their own pick for the former." said the kind soul. "But basically everyone agreed on which is the latter."

"Who?"

"A bastard child of the Emperor. Born from the womb of a humble maid. The Little Sun who had no power whatsoever to compete for the throne of Terraluna. That cursed royalty is none other than…" introduced the kind soul. "…His Highness the Second Prince, Aristo Rosan Doulosaima. The Doomed Prince."