"What is he doing here?" The murmurs began, and slowly spread through the grand halls.
"Isn't this his fifth time now? Or maybe his tenth?" another voice whispered, though not quietly enough.
"What else would you expect from the King's Bastard?" came a particularly harsh reply.
Prince Aiden heard these most of these side talks as he walked through the halls of Arcane Spire, the kingdom's Magic academy. However, he had learned to ignore them over the years.
Aiden had this dark, shabby hair that fell across his face as he kept his eyes forward, wearing his usual green leather vest over a white shirt with puffy sleeves, cinched with a brown leather belt.
The comments didn't bother him anymore, or so he told himself. His entire focus was on getting into the academy, and nothing else mattered. He found an empty corner and stood alone, which wasn't unusual for him.
Besides having no friends, he was also one of the oldest aspirants there, a nineteen-year-old surrounded by children at least three to five years younger.
Then the atmosphere in the hall shifted completely. His half-siblings, the twins Lysandra and Lucas, walked steadily into the room, and suddenly every eye was drawn to them. They had things to say as well but the were all in total admiration.
Lysandra herself commanded attention effortlessly. Her silvery-white hair was styled in an elegant updo with this stylish braiding, and loose tendrils framed her face. She had blue eyes and her skin was pale and just as beautiful. She wore a formal off-white gown, and her subtle makeup only enhanced her natural beauty.
Lucas, too, drew admiring stares. His white hair was curly and voluminous, and though he dressed similarly to Aiden, somehow everything looked more refined on him.
The twins then separated to join their respective groups of friends, leaving Aiden alone in his corner.
This was the Hall of Evaluations, and currently, it was filled with nobles, elites, and children of the Royal Family, the Crowleys.
At the upper gallery levels of the halls, sat the eight Guild Captains. Five men and three women, where they observed with keen interest as they would choose new members for their guilds based on today's assessments.
Ser Thornbaut, the Magic Assessment Supervisor, had waited for all the royal children to arrive before beginning. He stood before a stone pedestal carved with glowing runes, and atop it was a floating crystal orb.
This orb measured magical ranks, and all one had to do was channel their magic into it, after which a rune would appear that Thornbaut could read aloud for everyone to hear.
"The Magic Rank Assessment will officially begin," Thornbaut announced, his voice echoing through the halls which brought it to abrupt silence.
"We'll start with the royal family, then I'll call the rest of you forward one by one." Then Thornbaut's gaze moved toward Aiden, who stood alone to the side, but before he could beckon the bastard prince forward, Lucas stepped up boldly.
"I'll go first," Lucas declared with a confident grin. That was a lack of manners, but only someone of royal blood could behave so boldly and have it overlooked.
Thornbaut simply nodded and motioned toward the orb. "Place your hand on it and channel your magic," he instructed.
Lucas did as told, placing his right hand on the crystal surface. The orb glowed brightly, which was always a promising sign of high magical power. When the rune appeared, Thornbaut read it aloud: "A-Rank!"
Admiring chatter broke the silence, though people tried to keep their voices low, however someone said, "As expected of a true blood!" not quite quietly enough.
Thornbaut then motioned his hand to the side, which was where Lucas was to go stand at and away from the crowd till the assessments were completed. Lucas moved as instructed and clearly proud of himself. He knew the Guild Captains would be interested in recruiting a young prince whose wind magic was at an A-rank status.
Next, Thornbaut motioned to Lysandra, and the crowd didn't even attempt to stay quiet this time. The princess was the person every Guild Captain watched most carefully, since she had directly inherited her father's powerful gravity magic.
She placed her hand on the orb and channeled her energy, and the crystal glowed even brighter than it had for Lucas, and when the rune appeared, Thornbaut announced: "S-Rank!" Pure joy spread across Lysandra's face as the crowd erupted into excited conversation.
Even the Guild Masters in the upper gallery began talking animatedly among themselves. However, Lucas shook his head disappointedly, for once again, his twin sister had outperformed him. "Not only did she inherit Father's magic," he whispered to himself, "she also matched his rank from when he was her age."
Prince Aiden had just watched both his siblings achieve practically the best possible rankings, and now nervousness washed over him. He wasn't hoping to match his siblings, of course he would never dream of such a thing.
But all he wanted was to achieve just enough rank to finally enter the magic academy after five attempts.
Thornbaut raised his right hand and called out, "Quiet!" The hall fell silent at once. Then he motioned toward Aiden.
Some people in the crowd hissed, while some others looked away, in anticipation of the embarrassment Aiden was about to endure yet again.
Aiden walked toward the orb, his heart pounding, but then he repeated the words in his mind, "You've come this far, You cannot go back with nothing today."
"Channel your magic," Thornbaut instructed. Aiden nodded and placed his hand on the crystal surface, then channeled every bit of magical energy that he could muster.
There was a glow, the faintest anyone had ever seen, but still a glow. A flicker of hope crossed Aiden's face, because at least this time, something had happened.
The rune appeared, and Thornbaut announced: "E-Rank!"
"What?" Aiden said, looking up from the orb in confusion.
Soft chuckles rippled through the hall from people who tried to hide their faces or covered their mouths, but Lucas couldn't hide his reaction. His muffled chuckles turned into open laughter before Lysandra elbowed him hard in the ribs.
"Ow!" Lucas yelped, straightening up and trying to muffle his laughter. Lysandra was the only other person who felt genuinely sorry about the outcome. She knew how hard Aiden had worked over the past year to somehow improve his magic.
"Please, check again," Aiden said, tears forming in his eyes as he looked at Thornbaut pleadingly. Without waiting for permission, he placed his hand on the orb again and channeled mana into it.
The same faint glow appeared, followed by the same rune. Thornbaut looked at the symbol and sighed before meeting the tearful, hopeful gaze of the young prince.
"It's the same result, my Prince. I'm sorry," Thornbaut said whilst moving his hand to the opposite side of where his siblings stood at. Apparently, a side for people who won't get into the academy.
However, Aiden stepped backward slowly, then turned and walked through the hall. He wasn't about to stand there and endure the embarrassment once again.
Though he heard shameful giggles and hurtful whispers from every corner of the room as he made his way to the doors and left entirely.
...
Every year, Arcane Spire assessed mages and those with magical potential for enrollment. Normally, all you needed was an E-rank score to gain admission, and under normal circumstances, Aiden would have been overjoyed, for it would mean that he could finally enter the academy.
However, different rules applied to royals and nobles. They needed at least a D-rank assessment. The E-rank threshold existed to be considerate to the lower classes, but it was also a form of discrimination designed to maintain social standings.
The Royal family and families of high social standing were even particularly careful about marriage alliances, ensuring they didn't dilute their magical bloodlines.
The assessment age was fourteen, and no one could attempt entry to Arcane Spire before then. When Aiden first tried at fourteen, the orb hadn't even glowed and he had scored literally nothing.
This shocked even Thornbaut, because achieving no score at all meant someone had negligible mana or none whatsoever. Usually, only peasants or commoners with false claims about having magic or any mana at all scored nothing.
Some common folk even saved money all year just to buy entry passes to the assessment halls, hoping to catch a glimpse of royalty rather than actually being tested.
Every royal and noble, until Aiden's first assessment, had easily scored high enough to enter the academy. The Crowley family in particular had never produced anyone who scored below B-rank. In fact, achieving only B-rank as a Crowley was considered almost shamefully low.
Now Aiden, on his fifth attempt, could barely muster enough magical energy for an E-rank assessment at age nineteen.
For four years, he had failed completely. After his fourth failure at eighteen, he had begun taking extra lessons from palace mages, desperately trying to improve. He begged every Guild Captain who visited the throne room to teach him, pleaded with even the Grand Magus whenever possible.
Each one turned him down, either bluntly telling him he had no magical potential or letting him down gently, but the answer was always no.
At eighteen, when most young men in the kingdom celebrated their coming of age by visiting pleasure houses, Aiden had chosen to remain celibate. He abstained for a full year, staying a virgin until he could gain admission to the academy.
It wasn't that he didn't have desires, he was a man after all, but he refused to let anything derail him from his purpose.
Only Grandal, one of the palace healers, had taken pity on Aiden and helped him develop whatever small magical ability he possessed.
Over the past year, Aiden had finally managed to produce flame magic, tiny sparks, but flames nonetheless. The day he first created those sparks had filled him with pure joy. It was proof that he had some mana, however little.
He had practiced constantly, and was confident that the next assessment would finally get him into the academy. But today had proven that even his small improvement wasn't enough.
...
Outside the main assessment hall, commoners and regular townspeople waited in orderly lines for their turn. They stood on both sides of the corridor, expecting the nobles inside to finish so they could proceed with their own evaluations.
When the doors opened, they grew excited, thinking it was their turn, but only one person emerged: The Prince, Aiden.
The doors shut behind him as he walked between the filed commoners, leaving them whispering about what had happened inside and why only one person had left.
Unfortunately, these common people couldn't identify Aiden as one of King Jarius Crowley's sons. His true identity was hidden from most people outside noble circles to avoid publicizing the shame of his illegitimate birth. Additionally, he lacked the distinctive white hair of the Crowley family, so most people would simply assume he was some minor noble.
Aiden left the academy building in a rage and climbed into his waiting carriage.
"Back to the palace, my Prince?" asked the servant who guided the horses.
Aiden then responded, "No. Take me to the finest pleasure house in the city."