The pleasure house was exactly as expected; a lavish decorated establishment filled with women of various body shapes and sizes, with each one making eye contact and gesturing seductively towards the customers that would step in from time to time.
Aiden walked through a certain room that he was guided into by the owner of the establishment, which was apparently where the best of the best were kept for people of high social status.
As the prince walked through, some of these women bold enough, would brush their hands across his loin area, to get a feel of his arousal.
"You, you, you there, and you," Aiden said, pointing to four women who caught his attention. He made these selections were based on their seductive appeal; as he was either drawn to their curves or the way they carried themselves.
One of them had even grabbed his hand and pressed it against her chest, to let him feel the fullness of her bosoms. He then paid the establishment’s owner in gold and left with all four women in tow.
Perhaps it wasn’t the most dignified way to lose his virginity, four different women taking turns with him, the decision felt entirely impulsive and yet, somehow deserved.
"At least I deserve this much," Aiden thought to himself. He had abstained for longer than most men would, despite knowing that such pleasures could come to him easily and whenever he wished.
The ride back to the palace on the carriage felt longer than normal, but eventually they arrived, and Aiden had all four women escorted to his chambers. Now that they were all in his room, the women began taking off their clothes and letting their garments fall carelessly to the floor and in different corners.
They moved toward him, and slowly started undressing him, taking off his vest and shirt. But suddenly, this feeling of disgust washed over the prince, then he snapped, and yelled "Leave me alone!"
His tone was sharp enough that they immediately backed away, clustering together on his massive bed while he stood, leaving his already pulled down shirt on the bed and walking toward the windows.
Aiden had been in an emotional state ever since leaving the academy, and wanted to just force everything he was feeling down by letting these women have their way with him. Unfortunately it just overwhelmed him. He stared out through the windows, trapped in an endless loop of thoughts about his consistent failures, and wondering why his life was always a disaster.
All the stress of the past year, the pleadings and the extra trainings, had yielded nothing but an E-rank score. His peers were already members of prestigious guilds, while he at nineteen, still couldn’t even gain admission to the academy.
Aiden who currently, stood shirtless but in his black pants and boots, was so absorbed in his misery that he didn’t hear the approaching footsteps.
He was only jolted back to reality when a thunderous voice filled his chamber. "Get out of here, all of you!" King Jarius Crowley’s voice rang through the room.
The four women, in see-through robes they usually wore, underneath thicker garments, hurriedly scrambled from the bed, grabbing their scattered clothes from various corners of the chamber before rushing toward the door.
Aiden turned quickly, bowing his head in a mixture of shame and respect, "Father..."
The furious king was a matured man of middle-age man. Asides his imposing figure, he had this long silver-white hair that was slicked back, with his full beard being the same color.
Each step he took into the room seemed to increase the tension within it. "What did you score?" he asked directly. Of course, he already knew as word had reached him from the Spire about all his children’s results.
"Father, I’m..." Aiden began, but Jarius cut him off immediately. That wasn’t the beginning of an answer he wanted to hear.
"What did you score, you bloody scum?" His voice thundered through the prince’s chambers once more and so loudly that servants in the hallways paused in shock. Some began moving closer to listen, and idle chatter started among the palace maids.
"An E!" Aiden yelled back, his voice mixing embarrassment with sadness. "I scored an E, Father," He said again whilst turning once again toward the window, in an attempt to hide his building tears and to maintain some semblance of composure.
"Don’t you dare turn your back when your king speaks!" Jarius’s voice shook the room again, and almost immediately, Aiden spun back to face him, though his head remained downcast.
"How are you supposed to be my heir one day if you can’t even muster a B-rank magic score? How?" Jarius demanded; but without waiting for an answer, he continued, "You’re an embarrassment to the Crowley name!" then spat on the ground.
"Maybe this was the gods’ way of punishing me for my infidelity, they made you take after the whore who mothered you."
That was the final straw and right then Aiden snapped. "Then maybe you should have kept your dick to yourself!" he shot back, finally having reached his breaking point.
"How dare you?" Jarius said in a low, yet menacing tone. And at that moment, the walls of room began trembling under the force of his magic.
The massive chandelier made of crystals and hanging from the high-above ceiling starts to shake, with its lights flickering as the crystals clinked together. Cups fell from tables and mirrors shattered against the walls.
Aiden was frantic with fear, and his eyes widened in shock at what he was witnessing. "Father, I’m sorry, I’m sorry..." he started pleading, but it was already too late.
His voice became mere background noise as Jarius looked up at his son, then immediately, an invisible force seized hold of Aiden and lifted him feet off the ground and squeezing him like a mice.
Aiden yelled out in pain as tears rolled down from his eyes. He could feel the bones in his right arm dislocate and crack under the magical pressure. Frankly, he had never felt this much physical pain in his life.
The fury in King Jarius’s eyes was so intense that it was certain he could have killed his son right there. Fortunately, that was the moment Lysandra burst into the room. "Father, you’re killing him! Father, stop!" she screamed.
A few minutes after Aiden had left the assessment halls, Lysandra had decided to follow him rather than wait for the proper academy induction process, especially knowing how much pain her brother would be in.
The gravity magic hold on Aiden immediately ceased, and his body crashed to the floor from the height where he’d been suspended. The impact made him groan even more as pain shot through his already injured form.
As Jarius turned to leave, he said "Even if it’s the last thing I do, I will abolish this law that makes it so for the king’s firstborn son to be heir. You will never sit on the Wyrm Seat. Never!"
He adjusted his velvet cape that draped over his shoulders and his dark ceremonial robes as he walked away from the room.
She ran to Aiden’s side immediately, running her hand through his hair while trying to console him, "Oh, I’m so sorry, Aiden."
Just as Jarius reached the entrance, his third child Lucas appeared, as he had followed behind Lysandra earlier.
"My apolo..." Lucas began but couldn’t even finish his apology before the cold stare from his father silenced him completely, making him scramble to the side. Jarius walked away, pretty much enraged.
Lucas then entered the room, looking up at the damaged ceiling and surveying the rest of the room that was in a bad shape. "What the hell happened here?" he asked, with his eyes now moving to the floor where he saw his twin sister Lysandra trying to console their crying elder brother, who clutched his broken arm.
A smile slowly spread across Lucas’s lips as he pieced together what had occurred. It seemed their father had personally dealt with Aiden for failing to gain academy admission yet again, five failures in a row.
"Lysandra, let’s go," he said to his sister. "Mother will be waiting to hear how we performed."
"You stupid fool, can’t you see Aiden is hurt?" Lysandra yelled as she turned to glare at him.
"D-don’t worry, j-just go," Aiden managed to say between sobs.
"But you’re injured. Let me—" Lysandra wanted to protest, but Aiden stopped her. "It’s fine, Lysandra. I’m good," he said, trying to turn his pained groan into something resembling a smile.
"You heard him, Lysandra. Let’s go. Mother will be even more furious if she learns you were here," Lucas added with a sadistic expression.
Lysandra took one last sympathetic look at Aiden, who nodded for her to leave. "I’ll send Grandal to tend to you immediately, and I’ll check on you later," she promised.
Then she stood and walked past Lucas, giving him a cold glare before leaving the room.
Lucas laughed as Lysandra departed, then turned toward Aiden, who was still writhing in pain. "Word of advice, brother," Lucas began. "If I were you, I’d leave Dragonhold entirely. Or better yet, go feed yourself to Thyrak. Either way, there’ll never be a place for you here." He made an audible clicking sound with his tongue and left the room.
Aiden stared at the ceiling, with his left hand holding onto his injured right arm while he writhed in pain. Tears continued rolling down his cheeks as he wondered why he had ever been born into this world. "I am done with this life," he whispered to himself.
This display was a perfect reflection of the Kingdom of Dragonhold. The capital of all nine kingdoms and the location of the Wyrm Seat. Like most kingdoms under its rule, your magical rank was the most important thing about you, whether you were royalty, nobility, elite, commoner, or even peasant.
Nothing else mattered more in this world where magic power determined everything.