Chapter 2 A Prince No More

After somehow managing to escape from the group of gossiping onlookers, Arvell passed by some alleyways where he could see firsthand the full scale of this country's impoverished sectors.

King Vispia didn't care much about the innumerable slums throughout his country; he only considered them to be leeches on his noble soil.

For someone like him to not exile them from his country, he must have demonstrated considerable willpower.

Arvell suspected his gentle-hearted mother had a role to play in this matter; after all, she was raised from birth to be gentle and kind in the Artis Dukedom.

Arvell walked past a child with a look of helplessness and desolation in their eyes, a look that no child should have.

He dug into his pocket and slipped a silver coin into the child's hand.

She looked at Arvell with eyes full of confusion, with her previous distraught look nowhere to be found on her face.

Arvell brought his finger up to his lips and gave her a wink before walking past her.

If she was smart, she would keep that coin hidden.

But, unfortunately, there are all kinds of people here in this slum.

As Arvell passed by her, something caught until something caught his eye.

He walked over to a side of the alleyway and picked up a dingy old cloak lying next to a pile of trash.

Although he was grimacing inwardly at the idea of putting this worn-out filthy rag, Arvell wrapped himself in it and pulled down the hood to cover his face.

His nose was instantly assaulted by the putrid stench of rancid garbage, which involuntarily caused his whole body to shudder.

'I'm really starting to miss the castle already. At least there, I didn't have to wear garbage and could enjoy nice hot baths drawn by the various maids,' Arvell reminisced.

But unfortunately, those days would never return to him; after all, he was exiled from the castle for having no mana.

The only reason he even needed the black robe was that wearing the clothes of a royal prince while outside with no protection was the equivalent of practically asking to get kidnapped or robbed.

Arvell solemnly dragged his feet to a nearby inn after confirming that he had some leftover cash in his pocket.

King Vispia must have deemed it unnecessary to strip Arvell of his money and clothes since he wouldn't have them for long anyway.

As Arvell stepped inside the inn, he was greeted by the noisy clamour of men singing and arm-wrestling while others placed bets to see who would win.

While waiters hurriedly delivered a never-ending stream of alcohol to the already piss-drunk men.

Each of these men reeked of alcohol, causing Arvell to feel slightly nauseous when a few were talking near his face.

Arvell proceeded to walk to the innkeeper, making a serious effort to avoid accidentally inhaling more of that putrid stench.

Upon meeting Arvell, he put down his bottle of ale and let out a sizable burp.

Considering how flushed his cheeks were, Arvell quickly assumed that the bottle he had just put down was definitely not his first.

Moreover, he looked relatively irritated by Arvell's sudden intrusion.

The innkeeper looked down at Arvell, sizing him up.

"Wadduyah-Hic-want?" he gruffly asked while not even bothering to put up an effort to hide how drunk he was.

"I wish to stay for the night," Arvell responded, ignoring that this man could pass out any moment.

"1 night is-Hic-10 copper!" he drunkenly exclaimed while raising 5 fingers with his hand as if he'd done this innumerable times.

"Isn't that a little too expensive? I know that's not what you usually charge your guests."

"It costs what I say it is-Hic. If you don't-Hic-want it, then get lost, brat!" He screamed in Arvell's face, giving him a front-row seat to personally smell the sheer volume of alcohol he had consumed.

Arvell was hit by a pang of nausea and felt like passing out right then and there.

He soon realized that this was the only inn nearby and that it was getting too dark for a 13-year-old like himself to wander the streets on his own.

Arvell reluctantly complied with the innkeeper's ridiculous demands. He stood on the tips of his toes and reluctantly handed him his 10 copper coins.

This caused a few of the nearby drunks to burst out laughing.

Finally, after greedily taking the money from Arvell, the inn owner joined them.

Arvell was nearing his breaking point after being embarrassed repeatedly throughout the day.

However, he opted against retaliation, as that would only result in him ending in a worse condition than he's already in.

Arvell dejectedly walked up to his room while a few adults behind him slung curses and various other profanities at his aching back.

Walking through the hallway, Arvell heard a soft squeak under his foot and abruptly halted his foot.

He saw a tiny mouse scurry from underneath his raised foot and scamper to a hole in the wall on his right.

The mouse paused and gave him a curious look before entering what he presumed to be its home.

After passing through the hallway, Arvell found his room and opened the door, reaffirming his belief that he had been swindled.

Moth-eaten curtains and holes in the room's walls again attested to the care put into maintaining this room.

Arvell highly doubted the fee would be more than 5 copper coins a night.

The fatigue suddenly hit him, and After fell to his bed.

With his last strength, Arvell scavenged the pockets of his clothes and tried to find anything of use or value.

But unfortunately, all Arvell could muster up was 3 gold coins, 10 silver coins, 15 copper coins, and the wedding ring he kept for his engagement to Ethelline.

He blankly stared at it before tossing it back into his pocket. Then, hopefully, he would never have to see or hear from Ethelline again.

He raised his hands to his neck and removed the amulet that served as his good luck charm. He felt a special attachment to this amulet because it was given to him by Princess Lilianna as a child.

He couldn't bear to part with it, no matter how long it had been.

Holding it in his hand filled his body with a genial warmth that spread throughout the rest of his body.

This amulet was supposedly passed down in Lilianna's mother's family for numerous generations.

It was supposed to be a powerful deterrent against bad luck.

Lousy luck like his current scenario…

He let out a self-deprecating dry chuckle and stared at the intricate symbols meticulously etched onto the illustrious jade amulet.

However, no matter how much he looked at it, he'd never been able to decipher the meaning of the symbols.

But that didn't matter much to him since he only had this amulet to remind himself of Princess Lilianna, something he treated as valuable as his own life.

In fact, he hid this amulet from his family since he was sure they would try to confiscate it if they found out about it and possibly even shatter it.

There was no way he'd ever let them do that!

As he was fiddling around with the amulet, his finger grazed the sharp stone in the centre, and blood began to freely spill from his wound.

As his blood came in contact with the centre of the gemstone, the amulet briefly lit up before dimming again.

"Wha-wha-what was that????" Arvell cried out, almost dropping the amulet.

He took a look at the amulet in disbelief.

'Maybe my eyes played a trick on me? I guess I'm just tired after today's events. I mean, my world quite literally got flipped on its head...'

Arvell eyed the amulet suspiciously one more time before returning the amulet to its place on his neck.

Arvell dejectedly looked up at the mildewed ceiling, which was foreign to him.

Due to him being a prince born with a diamond spoon, he grew up in a luxurious castle.

Usually, not even a single speck of dust was tolerated.

This made this tawdry inn feel almost like a new world to Arvell.

"Happy birthday Arvell. You're finally thirteen," He muttered with a self-deprecating tone.

Arvell closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Shortly afterwards, Arvell stirred from his somewhat pleasant dreams by the beckoning of an ethereal voice. "...I see that you have finally decided to awaken me."