The Encounter Between the Forsaken Healing Magic’s Beloved Child and the Betrayed Black Dragon Princess of Calamity - 1

Chapter 1: The Useless Little Prince

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Since the day I was born, I have never been needed by anyone. I was born as the sixth prince of the Hylics Empire, one of the great nations in the western nations. Though I was born as a prince, but I was just a prince in name. After all, I was the child born between Emperor Friedrich Furst Hylics and the servant of one of his concubines. That being said, I wasn’t born out of love. My father forced himself on her mother and I was born in a dark room, in a remote part of the palace. 

Since I was still the Emperor’s child, I was given the title of the sixth prince. Of course, I had no right to the throne. It seemed my mother passed away shortly after giving birth to me. I heard she had to endure a very miserable life in the palace during her pregnancy. The one who told me that story was my wet nurse. She retold that story with great delight. According to her,”Her miserable fate was her rightful comeuppance since she dared to carry the Emperor’s child without knowing her own status and without the Emperor’s consent.”

In other words, it was only natural for me to be treated like this. Living a life worse than a servant and forced to complete harsher tasks. I should be grateful I was allowed to live. 

“Oi! You useless boy! Come here and carry this!”

“Ye-Yes!”

Summoned by one of the palace cooks, I placed my hands on the wooden box I was instructed to carry. But the box was big and heavy. There was no way a 10 year old boy like me could lift it myself. 

“Haaa… You’re really just a useless piece of trash.”

“…..”

Just like usual, the cook leered at me with a malicious grin on his face. All I could do was cast my gaze downward and endure this treatment in silence. 

“Oi! Are you even listening to me!?”

“Ugh…?!”

The cook raised his right hand and hit my face—no, not my face. He hit my stomach with all his might. 

“Oi, you… Be careful. Even though that kid is useless and stupid, but he’s still the sixth prince, you know?”

“It’s fine. That’s why I’m hitting him in the stomach, so it won’t stand out. Besides, this guy is surprisingly resilient. Even if I hit or kick him pretty hard, he will bounce back quickly.  Just like this!”

“Ugh…!!”

The cook kicked my stomach with the tip of his shoe while I was still laying on the ground, writhing in pain. The plump middle-aged woman who was overlooking me with a bored expression was my wet nurse, Madam Polke. 

“Humph… I wonder why His Majesty the Emperor is still keeping this child around.”

Madam Polke said. Indeed… I was wondering the same thing as well. Why did His Majesty, my father, still keep me at the palace? I was small, useless, always being scolded and I couldn’t do anything right and yet… I was still allowed to live in the palace. 

“Who knows? This useless kid… But, well, he’s technically still the Emperor’s child. Maybe that’s why His Majesty has a soft spot for him. After all, His Majesty is a very benevolent ruler.”

“Indeed, indeed.”

The cook said with a hint of mockery laced in his voice and Madam Polke only waved her hand dismissively at him before walking off somewhere. 

“Ehe… Ehehe…”

I pressed my hand against my bruised stomach and leaned against the wall for support as I stood up. Then, a smile naturally creeped up on my face. 

Yes… In the end, His Majesty… My father… He was still watching over me. Thanks to that, I was still allowed to live in the palace. Hence why… I should endure this kind of torment. After all, my father could’ve easily abandoned me outside the palace as soon as I was born. I would’ve died right after I was born. Hence why…

“I need to do my best…”

After rubbing my stomach gently, I stood up and lifted the edge of the wooden crate, dragging it across the floor to move it away.

I had never met my father even once and I actually wished I would one day meet His Majesty, my father, whom I had yet to see. 

That is my—Gilbert Furst Hylics’s—one and only wish.

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“Ouch, ouch, ouch…”

I was curling up in the corner of the library located in the basement of the palace while holding a book and a hard little piece of bread. After that, not only the cook, but the other servants and guards working in the palace also hit and kicked me a lot. Even so, they never touched my face. All the bruises and wounds were all hidden beneath my clothes. Just like what Madam Polke had said, they probably avoided hitting me in a visible place so they wouldn’t get scolded by His Majesty. 

“Hehehe… I guess Father is still protecting me after all.”

I said rather bashfully while rubbing my wounded stomach and shoulders. Being hit by the servants felt really painful, but this wouldn’t be enough to kill me. Yes… This much pain was nothing to me.

“Ei~”

In the corner of the library, where not a single light could be seen, my right hand emitted a faint glow. Just like that, the pain in my body vanished almost immediately. Yes. The reason why I could still live and endure all that beating was because of this mysterious power. Since I was old enough to become aware of my surroundings, the pain would go away as soon as I received this light. No matter how much Madam Polke hit me, no matter how much the servants kicked me, all the pain would disappear thanks to this light. 

“If I didn’t have this power, by now I’d…”

I muttered to myself before I shook my head. The worst possibility would come to my mind, but since my father was still protecting me… The worst wouldn’t come… Right?

“Alright. Time to continue today’s reading.”

I lit the candle on the candlestick I had brought and began to flip through the book. This basement library had become my secret hideout since no one else used it. I found this place three years ago and ever since then, I had read many books here. Though… To be able to read the books here, I had to learn how to read the letters first. In actuality, I was only able to start reading the books here only two years ago. I felt really happy when I read. There were many incredibly difficult books, but I still forced myself to read them and tried my best to understand them, even just a little bit. Thanks to that, I had read almost every book in this library. I also learned how to use this mysterious power from the books here. 

In this world, there was something called ‘magic.’ Magic could be used to start fire, summon water and even call forth lightning or storms. There were many types of magic and this mysterious power I had was called healing magic. Healing magic could hear someone’s injury, no matter how bad it was.

“But since I’m a useless kid, I can only heal small injuries like this.”

The healing magic I had could only be used to heal small injuries that I had from being hit or kicked by the servants. I didn’t know if the other people could use healing magic too or not, but well. Since I was a useless child, this magic must not have been anything special either.

“I wonder if I could use more amazing magic…”

There were stories about great wizards and sages who used powerful magic to defeat evil demons and monsters in the books I had read. They traveled to many places, met all sorts of people and saved countless lives. I really longed for that kind of life. 

“But of course, there’s no way I could live that kind of life.”

Slowly, I closed the book and shook my head. Surviving in this palace was the only thing I could do. There was no way an useless child like me could live on my own. 

“Hoam… I should go to sleep soon.”

Yawning, I pulled the blanket over myself and lay down on the floor. 

I still have a lot of work I need to do tomorrow morning. 

Surrounded by my beloved books, I slowly drifted to sleep. 

And then… The next morning…

“U-Umm…”

For some reason, the guards pulled me into a lavish room filled with so many people. 

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