eldia

1 | prologue

prologue: a separate introductory section of a literary work / an event or action that leads to another event or situation.

❧

For as long as Jean could remember, he had known the ins and outs of this castle.

Not because he lived in it, sadly. As much as he wished that was the reason. No, instead it was because since he was a child, his mother dragged him to work with her.

His mother worked in the castle as a nurse. She took care of the 3 princes and the princess straight out the womb.

Jean always found it weird that the queen didn't take care of them since she was quiteliterally the mother but figured it's because she was busy doing well... whatever the hell queens do.

She did such a good job as the babies's nurse that they kept her around as the nanny when they got older and she practically raised the four children all on her own.

It was a lot of work but they paid her well enough for it. She also loved them dearly so she didn't complain although they were a handful.

She continued to work there for about 15 years. Every morning, she dragged Jean to work with her. They lived in a small village just outside the castle walls.

Eldia was beautiful but it wasn't anything too crazy. The houses were small and humble. The people weren't necessary poor but they definitely weren't rich.

Jean hated it. He had a lust for a more luxurious lifestyle. Maybe it was because he would spend his days running around a gorgeous, massive castle and then go home to his plain, little cottage home. It was like he had a taste of royalty and didn't want to downgrade from it.

He was always an ambitious person. Always had a lot of goals and dreams. He planned to make it big one day and live lavish with money to spare to give to his equally as hardworking mom.

He had dreams of joining the royal guard at the age of 18 and work his way up to the top. He knew he could too. He was naturally a good leader.

Until then, he was just a visitor. An outsider granted temporary access to the life he dreamed of. The life he yearned for.

Jean hated waking up at the crack of dawn every morning to follow his mom to work but it was mainly just the waking up early part. He loved going to the castle.

Because his mother could never find a babysitter for him, he was forced to go with her for as long as he could remember. He was practically raised with the princes.

He got to grow up with them. And even though they were royalty, they never treated him less than but he always knew he was never going to be on their level. It was just fun to pretend sometimes.

The kingdom was blessed with three princes. The oldest, Elijah, was naturally first in line for the throne. Because of this, he usually had way more pressure thrown on him. He was already a pretty quiet and to himself person but all the eyes glued on him made him much more introverted.

The middle son, Ambrose, was much, much different. He was a lot more eccentric compared to his older brother. He was one of those people who was naturally charismatic and charming. He definitely behaved like how Jean imagined a prince would be.

Except the more he got to know him, he realized Ambrose was a taunting, mischievous troublemaker. The charming act was just a front he put on around adults and girls.

The youngest was Malakai, or like Jean would call him, Kai. Jean and Kai were the same age so Jean naturally got along better with him than the other two.

Kai was cool. That's the word that comes to mind when Jean thought of Kai. Cool.

Jean and Kai were best friends growing up, regardless of the major and painfully obvious difference in economic status. Kai was a prince and Jean was just a citizen of the kingdom but Kai never treated him that way. He always saw him as an equal.