Jovis, Year of Severus, 15, I.R., the 51st day of Fall, Arenfall

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Prince Arterius hadn't slept well for the third day in a row. Without any responses from the squads and Commander Crovar from the hole, he was now doubting the plans he had laid out for them. He paced endless around the crystal ball the entire morning, waiting for any signs of life from below, but the past three days proved to be fruitless.

His mind raced as the thoughts of his failure began to sink in. He could just imagine the delight of his detractors as they would ridicule him in the Senate Hall. The smiles of Senator Lucresia and Senator Ordus would light up an entire city.

He imagined his father, the Imperatur victorious and would gladly parade him into the open square to ridicule for his failure and strip him of his birthright to the throne. His father might just die in pure bliss as he gets escorted out of the capital.

Prince Arterius wanted to cry and end his suffering right there where he stood but a part of him was still hopeful that he would come out victorious and start the new age for the Principalia. The crystal ball still wasn't giving any response. He called Stolas who was chronicling the entire expedition and asked him to try and do contact with them.

The crystal ball buzzed and hummed, but there was no sign of anyone responding.

"Gods damnit!" Prince Arterius clicked his tongue. "Try it again, Stolas!" His voice quivered as his frustration was peaking.

Stolas shook his head, "Arterius…" He sighed and bit his lip. "There's no response—"

"Nonsense!" He slapped the table with his hand. "This is the most modern technology we have! We can even use this to communicate over a hundred ildwyrms away! And yet we can't use this to communicate with them under the fucking ground!" He grabbed the crystal ball and throw it to the ground out of frustration.

Stolas was able to hold Prince Arterius' hand before he could drop it to the ground. Prince Arterius shouted and cursed. His lack of sleep along with desperation had messed up his entire mindset today. Stolas overpowered him and was able to save the ball from being nothing more than a shattered crystal. His immediately placed the ball down on the table before both of them fell to the ground.

The struggle continued on the ground as both men tried to overpower each other. Unfortunately for Prince Arterius, Stolas was stronger than him. Too strong in fact that he ended up spitting in his ward's face just so he could try and get away from his grip.

Their commotion didn't go unnoticed. Lord Prestonheim entered the tent hastily as he heard the loud shouts inside the tent. He saw the both of them at it against each other. The silver-haired Commander immediately came to Prince Arterius' rescue.

He picked up Stolas and separated the both of them from their tussle. He grabbed the ward's hands and placed it against his back.

"What in the gods names is going on here?" Lord Prestonheim asked.

"My Lord…" Stolas answered while catching his breath. "I was trying to prevent the Prince from destroying the crystal ball." He pointed at the ball that was displaced from the table.

Prince Arterius was heaving as he fixed his hair and clothes. He had nothing to say to his godfather, since what he did was a total embarrassment to his name and to the royal throne. He spat on the ground and walked out of the tent limping into the gloomy morning of Jovis.

He needed to clear his mind after that breakdown. He felt ashamed having to inconvenience his friend and his godfather with his antics. He walked hastily into the farthest reaches of the camp to calm himself down. His limp didn't matter to him, he crossed the rock-ridden road until he found a single standing tree in the outskirts of the mine.

The big Okre tree immediately caught his eye. He immediate climbed the slightly steep mound and sat on the ground, with his back rested on the trunk. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His frustration had eaten him and that was the first time he went out of control.

His injured leg throbbed in pain as he rested it on the ground. He gritted his teeth and cursed incessantly while he slowly massaged his legs. The pain, the frustration and his sleeplessness had messed him up so bad. His logical self went out of his existence leaving him with his chaotic emotional self—the thing he hated to surface the most.

The pain in his heart was getting more unbearable more than his pesky injured leg. He scoured his satchel for the concoction he made but he left it on the tent. What he had inside his satchel was some gold coins and a small ornated knife.

He looked at the knife intently. It was his mother's knife, her only heirloom to him before she died. It was the only thing his father wasn't able to confiscate from him because he hid it so well. He took the knife out of satchel and looked at the well engraved design of the scabbard. A gilded harpy spreading its wings with a sword held on its feet. A symbol of the Honcula family.

Its hilt had an eagle's head carved from a wyvern's bone while the handle was meticulously wrapped with leather from a Cathus said to have been killed by his father during one of his hunts in the Vridian wilderness.

"The golden harpy, huh?" He smirked as he took the knife out from its scabbard to reveal the naked silver blade that glistened as the light kissed the cold metal. His face reflecting on the thin blade only goes to show the meticulous artistry of the human smith that made it.

As he looked at his reflection on the blade, thoughts of his childhood began to resurface. He remembered the times his mother would come to his aid when his father would brutally beat him for his so-called incompetence. He remembered how his mother would gently hug and caress his way with her dainty fingers as she sang his favorite lullabies to calm his nerves down. Those were the sweet yet painful memories he recalled when his mother was still alive.

"You worthless piece of shit!" Suddenly his father's voice broke his serene memory of his mother. "You shall give that birthright to your brother whether you like it or not!"

Prince Arterius immediately lose his grip of the dagger as his father's poignant words came to nag at him once again. The dagger struck itself on the ground piercing through the soft grass. He breathe-in deep as he tried to calm his nerves. He did his best to make them recognize him, but unfortunately, he came out short until the very end.

His strong and determined demeanor withered away along with his sliver of hope he had left for the expedition. No matter how many times he tried making the perfect plan somehow it didn't seem to work.

He looked at himself on the reflection on the dagger and realized that there was only thing left to do. Prince Arterius took the blade from the ground and placed the edge across his neck. His heart raced as his logic wrestled with his emotions.

It would be a bloody and agonizing death for him, but at least he would end his suffering right there. He took a deep breath slowly let the cold edge touch the skin of his neck. The sharp edge easily cut his skin and a small drop of blood trickled from the wound. His hand shook as he felt the pain from the cold air touching the small open wound.

Arterius closed his eyes and calmed himself down to avoid the shaking of his hand. He didn't want to do it all again. He smiled one last time and buried the blade deeper on his skin. He could hear the sound of the blade slicing that area of his neck. Now all he needed to do was ran it across to put an end to his miserable and ill-fated life.

His life flash before his very eyes. He saw everything he did up to that point. He saw himself smiled at the little triumphs he had with Senator Ordus, the applause he got for his cannon and the smirk his father gave him when he chose to stand up to him. But then again, those little victories that he thought would propel him to the top, all came crashing down just because he became too greedy and ambitious with his plan.

Now that he failed, he knew there was no turning back. There were no takebacks to begin with and he would rather end his suffering now than to be ridiculed and possibly killed by his detractors. Now was his perfect time to end it all. He failed at the very end, but at least he tried…he tried his damn hardest.

"Remember, my lovely child you are strong in your own way! Show them." His mother's voice suddenly came out of nowhere. "Don't ever give up, my wonderful Prince!"

Those words echoed inside of him. Those were the last words his mother told him before she died. Prince Arterius immediately dropped the knife and realized how he was turning into a failure. He let his despair get the better of him.

If ends his life now, what will happen to his vision? If he went ahead and kill himself would it just give validation of his weakness? Those thoughts ran into his mind as he slowly realized what his life truly meant for him.

Prince Arterius wept as he tried to pick up the pieces of his broken self and made a promise to himself to never think about taking his life again. He would rather go see this expedition through so they could rub it in those Senators smug faces how wrong they were…

And on that day, the real heir was born.