THE TRASH PRINCE'S SYSTEM

CHAPTER 3: PRINCELY CONFRONTATION

In Blackmoor City, the capital of Blackmoor Province, a grand play in honor of the Holy Church was being enacted, courtesy of the Crown Prince Alaric Valeheart Blackmoor-Thaloria, and the Lady Protectress of Blackmoor Province, Lady Leonora Blackmoor.

Crown Prince Alaric Valeheart Thaloria and Lady Leonora Blackmoor was seated in the front row of Philippa Hamilton Theater, a private establishment owned by a very wealthy noble-born businesswoman who did business with the Holy Church, a certain woman named Lady Philippa Hamilton, of House Hamilton, the only daughter of Lord Leo Hamilton and Lady Vanessa Hamilton. They were joined by Pope Aurelian Blackmoor of House Blackmoor, Pope of The Holy Church, Most High Holy Mage, and Defender of The Faith. Seated beside the Pope were some cardinals of the Holy Church, dressed in white from head to foot, with crucifix necklaces draped around their necks, and the power of the Holy Mages crackling from the staffs they always carried.

“Why, fancy meeting you here, Your Highness the Prince Alaric, lady Blackmoor, Your Holiness Pope Aurelian Blackmoor. It's my pleasure doing business with you, and it's an honor to have such distinguished guests as you to come and patronize my humble theater. “

Lady Philippa Hamilton did a curtsy when she approached the Lady of Blackmoor and the Crown Prince. Dressed in a magenta gown, magenta cloak, magenta bodice and skirt, magenta stomacher, magenta lace, magenta gloves, with a black fan on her hands, black shoes, with her hair done up with ribbons on her hair, the sigil of House Hamilton pinned on the upper chest part of her gown, and emblazoned on her cloak, she looked every part the smart young noble-born businesswoman who looked no older than 20. She hid her ambition and cunning with veiled words and flattery, and flaunted her House’s wealth with quiet, simple elegance. Philippa closed her fan, didn't bother to cover her face, and sat down right next to Crown Prince Alaric Valeheart Blackmoor-Thaloria, her sharp calculating mind already considering the implications of befriending the Crown Prince, how it will benefit her House, and how she can reap profits from it.

“ Oh please, spare me, my mother, and my uncle your empty pleasantries, my lady. Your endless flattery won't do you a favor here. I can see through you. “

Crown Prince Alaric told Philippa in a mocking tone, his piercing golden eyes looking straight at her, his eyebrows raised, with his lips curled into an annoying, mocking grin, daring her to make another move, with quiet but elegant confidence that bordered on arrogance.

“ Why, you wounded me, Your Highness. You see now that I’m loyal to Thaloria, and I’m loyal to the doctrines taught by the Holy Church. “

Pope Aurelian, Lady Leonora and the cardinals nodded solemnly in approval at Philippa’s quick witted reply, but the Crown Prince only laughed, his laughter being heard by half the audience inside the theater.

“Loyal? Loyal to both the Kingdom and the doctrines, really? As you say, my lady. You are loyal to your purse, and loyal to your pursuit of further power and riches, not only for yourself, but also for your House you mean. Don't go around fooling me and the rest of the audience here with your sugarcoated words. “

The crown prince mocked and threw Lady Philippa’s own words back at her. A ripple of laughter started with the crown prince’s supporters seated at the back of the prince, then spread and erupted all over the audience, and it washed over Philippa like a giant wave.

Before Lady Leonora could gesture to one of the cardinals to escort the Crown Prince out of the theater, and stop the matter from worsening, and before Philippa could frame a reply, the second prince who was seated on the other side of the theater, and silently heard the war of words between her and the Crown Prince, while being accompanied by a mixture of noble-born and wealthy commoner mages who came from prominent merchant families, who attached themselves to the second prince intervened.

“ We are well met, bastard. What's this I hear about you picking on Lady Philippa here? Have you no shame? You, your uncle, and your mother should be grateful that she accepted your coin, allowed you entrance inside her theater, and allowed you to stage this.. this disgusting play of yours, about some dreadful catastrophe that happened to the mages like what? Thousands of years ago? And out of that catastrophe was born the Holy Church, who are actually battle mages with oh so holy skills, and pretend they are pure and have done no crime, when in fact they’ve been persecuting ordinary mages with no power, and no money to defend themselves in the name of their oh so perfect religion. Oh, and I know your true origins too, bastard prince. I know you’re just a puppet of your mother’s House, and the Church. Be grateful that the entire generation of House Hamilton has supported you, and made a strategic alliance with your mother’s House, and the Holy Church. Because if you throw away such a rich, wealthy and powerful supporter, you shall rue the day you made a powerful enemy, bastard brother. To you, Lady Blackmoor, don't you think you can get away with killing my mother, the Queen. And also to the Pope and the Cardinals here, I prepared a nasty surprise for the lot of you. Just you wait.“

Second Prince Theron Valeheart Thaloria stood up, walked onstage, grabbed the magic voice amplifier device attached to one of the actors, and mockingly addressed the Crown Prince, the Pope, Lady Blackmoor and the cardinals, thus interrupting the play to the chagrin of the audience and the actors and actresses onstage. He delivered his biting speech full of mockery and sarcasm with a wicked glee and rude gestures at the Crown Prince, Lady Blackmoor, the Pope, and the cardinals, shocking the more conservative members of the audience who supported the crown prince, and causing an uproar of laughter among the bolder, younger members of the audience, who consisted mostly of the nobility and the wealthy merchant class who are members of powerful merchant guilds, and therefore supported the second prince.

To add insult to injury, Second Prince Theron boldly conjured up balls of fire, and burned the props considered sacred as he went, causing another wave of uproar and laughter, knowing that the Church won't dare to touch him for fear of angering the King, and for fear that the Second Prince will hunt down and eliminate those who dared to try and persecute the Second Prince. After his little act of defiance against the Church, Lady Blackmoor and the Crown Prince, the Second Prince faced in their general direction in the audience, performed a smooth, elegant mocking bow with a wide grin, and walked out of the theater along with the mages who attached themselves to him, satisfied with the chaos he caused.

Meanwhile the theater was in uproar, with half the audience who supported the Crown Prince, of the conservative older faction shaking with barely contained rage and anger, and the other half, who are consisted of the younger, bolder and wilder faction could barely contain their glee and laughter as they animatedly discussed the implications of what just happened inside the theater. Some even went so far as to make mocking prayers, mock solemn speeches about the Holy Mages Book, and mock solemn expressions to the sound of much laughter.

The actors and actresses hired by Lady Blackmoor and the Crown Prince have long since exited the theater silently the moment the Second Prince stole their show and walked up onstage, in the effort to avoid getting implicated in political events that in the worst case scenario, might cost them their lives and their jobs.

Lady Blackmoor, The Pope, and the cardinals might as well be made of cold ice, for they tried so well to mask their true feelings and keep up the veil of dignity behind a stone wall as they exited the theater, but their disdain and dismay could still be evident and readable.

“ That infidel of a heretical second prince! How dare he mock me and call me a bastard to my face, right in front of half the theater to hear! He even called me a bumsucker of the Church! He is nothing more than a sacrilegious multi-elemental mage with a royal title. He will pay for this! “

The Crown Prince’s rage was visible in his shouting voice and his trembling but powerful frame as they exited the theater, and the efforts of the cardinals, his Uncle the Pope, and his mother the Duchess of Blackmoor to calm him down were in vain.

Lady Philippa Hamilton, meanwhile, was already thinking ahead on how to take advantage of the brewing storm, so that she and House Hamilton will get by unscathed, even if their wealth will be a bit diminished if it turned into a worst case scenario. She’ll pressure her entire family members to play both sides, or even perhaps side with the Third Prince, if needed be, if only to ensure the safety of their House, and survive the bloodbath that is sure to come and ravage Thaloria, with political instability looming like a stormcloud ahead.

News quickly travelled to King Alexander Cain Thaloria while he was training with his knights in the training ground inside the Thaloria Royal Castle.

Being an expert with the longsword, delivered precise, swift elegant, and calculated strokes at his opponent, the Lord Commander of the Royal Kingsguard, Sir Liam Hamilton, of House Hamilton, Lady Philippa’s first cousin, and one of the fiercest and finest knights to have wielded the sword in Thaloria Kingdom.

“Your Majesty? Are you fine? You seem to be sunk deep in thought. “

Sir Liam asked as he parried another sideslash from the King.

“ It’s nothing more than the thoughts of a concerned ruler, Lord Commander Liam. It seems to me that with two princes who can't stand one another, and another off in exile in the Wildling Outpost Province, the kingdom will undergo another political upheaval. And it will happen, sooner than we wish. “

“ Have you made countermeasures, if such an event will come true, then, Your Majesty? “

“You’ve known me for years, Lord Commander. You fought beside me in the previous civil war to dethrone my Uncle, who was a tyrant. You and a few of your allies slew the previous Kingsguard, and shielded me as I battled it out tooth and nail with my Uncle right on the steps of the throne room. You may not realize it now, but I already prepared countermeasures in advance. So bring it on. “

King Alexander smiled a calculated and cunning smile, feinted with a backslash, and when the Lord Commander counterparried, he delivered a powerful slash that caused the Lord Commander to stumble to the floor, before helping the Lord Commander to get up.