From Disposable Prince to Level 9999: Forbidden Evolution

AT ONE DARK EVENING

HUAN

I opened my eyes for the first time, and the world hit me like a storm. Warm light spilled over the cradle, and voices sharp, cold, cruel, cut through it.

"Look at him." Juan snickered, leaning over the cradle with that smug, superior smirk. "Is that really supposed to be a prince?"

Luan's laughter was harsher, jagged, echoing in the high, silent room.

"Weakling already. Can he even feel magic, little brother?"He asked.

I tried to move, my tiny arms flailed, my legs kicked, but nothing obeyed. My cries were small, pitiful squeaks that only made them laugh louder.

"Pathetic." Juan muttered. "Father should have stopped at two."

Father sat across the room, tall and rigid, his eyes like ice, he didn't speak, he never spoke to me. His gaze alone was a verdict: worthless. Every child of his bloodline had to be strong. Every heir had to shine, and I was nothing. Mother, though, mother's hands trembled as she reached for me. Her eyes, full of warmth and fear, lingered on my frail body.

"Huan, my sweet little Huan." She whispered, brushing a curl from my damp forehead. "You are perfect to me."

Her love was a soft shield, but it was thin. Against my brother's ridicule, against father's icy disdain, it barely kept the chill from seeping into my bones. I felt the first seed of something dark bloom inside me, as tiny and fragile as my fingers: 'I will survive. I must survive'.

Even as the world whispered that I was disposable, I clung to my mother's warmth. Her hope and tears made the cold palace bearable, and even in my helplessness, I swore one day, I would not be the weak one.

A month had passed since I opened my eyes to this cruel world. In that time, I learned to cry louder, to squirm with whatever strength my tiny limbs allowed, and to cling to my mother whenever the cold shadow of father or my brothers fell too heavily on me. One morning, the sunlight was pale and cold as it spilled through the nursery window. I was still in my cradle, wrapped in soft blankets, when the door creaked open. A small boy, taller than I was but still tiny, stepped inside. His chest puffed up with pride, and his eyes gleamed with that infuriating sense of superiority I was only beginning to understand.

I blinked up at him, unsure if I should cry or hide. His tiny fists rested on his hips, as if he were already commanding armies, not just a nursery. Behind him came another boy, slightly smaller but no less proud. 

"And I am Juan." He said, his tone sharp, cutting like the edge of a sword, even at four years old. "Second in line. Do not forget it."

I looked between them, their eyes, though small and childish, carried the same judgment I had felt on the day I was born. The world had made its ranks, and I was still at the bottom. Mother hovered behind me, her hand resting lightly on my shoulder, trying to shield me with her warmth. 

"They are just children." She said softly, though I could hear the worry in her voice. "Ignore them, Huan. You are still my prince."

But I couldn't ignore them, even now, their laughter and pride seemed to carve a space in the air, a place where I didn’t belong. I felt my fists clench, my tiny body trembling not from fear, but from the first spark of anger. 

Suddenly, the nursery door swung open wider, and the air seemed to shift. My tiny body stiffened as I felt it before I saw his father. King Xavier Bloodstone himself, tall, imposing, every inch the embodiment of power and authority. Even at this distance, his gaze cut through me like ice, sharp and unyielding. I looked up, his eyes were like frozen steel, scanning the room, lingering for only a heartbeat on my fragile form before flicking back to my brothers. Not once did they meet mine.

"Darling." My mother Rosalie's voice was soft, almost pleading, as she stood protectively behind me. "Huan…"

Her hands rested gently on my shoulders, warm and steady. I could feel her heart beating, a quiet anchor in the storm of fear and humiliation that filled the room. 

"You are my prince. Don't let them see you afraid."She smiled at me, gentle and loving, as she whispered same comforting words.

I swallowed hard. Father's presence was suffocating, yet that cold judgment it was a challenge, a gauntlet thrown at me before I even had the strength to stand. My tiny fists clenched under the blanket, nails digging into my palms. I must do something, anything. Even now, I could feel it the first ember of resolve igniting inside me. I would not remain invisible forever, I would not be discarded. If Father would not see me if the world would not recognize me, then I would force it. Luan and Juan glanced at each other, smug smiles on their faces, proud of their father’s approval. I could see it in the way they straightened their tiny shoulders, chests puffed out like little kings in training. And I? I was nothing. Not yet, but that would change. One day, I whispered to myself, so faint even my mother might not hear, I will make Father look at me. I will make him proud. And I will make my brothers pay for underestimating me. I didn't know how, not yet. But even in this tiny cradle, in this cold room filled with whispers of power and laughter that cut like knives, I felt the stirrings of something unstoppable. I would rise. I would evolve, and one day, the weakest prince would no longer be weak.