The Bones of the Ancient God

Chapter 2: The Seal That Began to Crack

As dawn was about to fully appear, Evelyn, who had been assigned to become Kaelan's foster mother, was in a village called Ashvale Village. The woman could be seen carrying Kaelan, who was unconscious, on her back. Her steps trembled from walking in exhaustion, her body was thin, her cheeks sunken, and her face pale.

Although it was still very early, the village already looked busy because most of the residents were farmers and they were about to leave for the rice fields and farmland.

The villagers who were outside their houses immediately looked suspiciously at Evelyn.

"That's Evelyn, Mrs. Martha's daughter, right? She came back?"

"That's right. Suddenly bringing a child like that?"

"Where is her husband?"

"That must be an illegitimate child..."

"I didn't expect her to go to the city just to become a prostitute, that's why she suddenly brought a child!"

The whispers scattered like dust that suffocated the heart.

Evelyn lowered her head and continued walking. She looked at a woman who had been staring at her scornfully. "Sorry, he is not an illegitimate child ..."

"Enough!" snapped Mr. Arthur, who was also there as the head of the neighborhood. "If you want to live here, don't cause trouble!"

"But I have a house here, Mr. Arthur. I am free to come and live here whenever I want," Evelyn replied without the slightest fear.

"Shameless! You're already in the wrong and still talking back! If you want to live here, don't expect your illegitimate child to be able to play with our children."

The hurtful remarks continued to strike Evelyn. They did not pity her, instead they mocked her as they pleased.

If only they knew who that child was, let alone speak, they would even hold their breath. He was Kaelan, the Crown Prince of the Aetherion Kingdom. The largest kingdom in the modern era, even the presidents of various countries had to show respect to him.

Several hours later, after Evelyn continued walking with her chin held high toward her house. Kaelan now slowly woke up.

When he woke up, he felt unfamiliar. The sound of chickens, birds chirping, and other sounds echoed around him.

"Ah ... It hurts..." When he woke up, Kaelan immediately held his aching head.

"Son, are you okay?" Evelyn immediately approached Kaelan and hugged him. Although Evelyn had only been assigned to be his stepmother, she had cared for Kaelan since he was little. So her affection was the same as that of a biological mother.

After the pain subsided, Kaelan looked at Evelyn in confusion, because he could not recognize the person in front of him.

"Son, what's wrong? Why are you looking at Mama like that?"

"Mama?"

"Yes, this is Mama. Kael, what's wrong?" Evelyn immediately held Kaelan's cheeks. It felt very painful to see the prince, who should have lived peacefully in the palace, but now had to be in a house that lacked proper facilities.

According to the King's and Queen's orders, so that no one would know Kaelan's whereabouts, Evelyn changed Kaelan's name to Kael. She deliberately changed it to Kael, because the name Kaelan was too well known by many people even though people had never seen the prince's face.

"Mama, why can't I remember anything? I don't even remember my own name," Kaelan said with a confused face. From time to time, he held his head.

Evelyn shook her head. However, he suddenly smiled. "Ma, Mama, don't cry, okay. No matter what happens to Kael, Kael will always love Mama. Kael's head still hurts, and he still can't remember. But Kael is sure he will remember later. I'm sorry, Ma. If Kael made Mama worried."

Evelyn immediately hugged him. Her heart felt like it was being cut into pieces, even though she knew everything. Seeing the person she usually served every day no longer recognize her was truly painful.

"Son, now Mama will prepare your breakfast first, after that we will go to school. Mama has enrolled you at Ashvale Elementary School."

"Ma, where did I go to school before?" asked Kaelan, trying to dig into his memories.

"You used to go to school in the city, where Mama worked. Because you were sick, we returned to the village. And now we are in the village. So I'm sorry, Kael has to transfer to the village school."

"It's okay, Ma ... as long as Kael is always with Mama," he said with a smile, although confused.

Evelyn looked at Kaelan's smiling face. "Young Master must be patient, okay. The life that Young Master will live now will be very difficult. I hope Young Master can get through everything," Evelyn thought. The woman had already imagined the life that would befall the prince, changing one hundred and eighty degrees from his previous life.

***

"Children, today we have a new friend. Introduce yourself."

Kaelan stood in front of the class, looking stiff as his gaze swept over his classmates.

"My name is ... Kael." Kaelan's cold and indifferent character was still very clear, there was no smile, no small talk. Everything flowed as usual.

"He's so arrogant, maybe he's a little mute, he doesn't even know how to introduce himself properly," whispered the students in the class.

"But he's handsome," said one of the female students.

"Ugh, handsome is handsome, but I heard he's an illegitimate child without a father," another male student added.

The teacher in the class immediately stopped her students' whispers. She looked at Kaelan. "Alright, Kael. You can sit in that empty seat, behind Brad," Miss Bella pointed to the row of desks in the middle.

Kaelan began walking toward his desk, he had to pass through rows of desks that felt narrow.

Suddenly...

THUD!

Kaelan stumbled and fell to his knees on the floor. The books he was carrying fell scattered.

Small laughter and whispers immediately filled the room.

In that class, there was a boy named Brad, the largest-bodied boy in the class, who stuck out his leg and whose laughter was also the loudest.

No one in the class dared to stand up to him, even the teacher would act very carefully. Not because he was the child of a rich person, or the child of a ruler, let alone the smartest student. He was the son of a market thug, and the boy was always protected by many thugs who dared to act brutally anywhere.

"Kael, are you okay?" asked Miss Bella in surprise and immediately approached him.

Kael quickly stood up. His face reddened from embarrassment. "I'm fine, Miss," he answered briefly while fixing his books that had also fallen because of the poorly functioning zipper on his bag.

"That village kid really is clumsy," Brad whispered.

Suddenly Kaelan felt a strange turmoil inside him. Like an urge to vent the anger that had suddenly appeared. However, he held it back.

"Strange, what feeling was that? Why does my body feel like it's burning? Even though I only fell," Kaelan thought.

Kaelan felt his entire body heat up, as if it could not accept the reality of being humiliated like that. But he tried to hold it back, not because he simply accepted Brad's treatment, but because he remembered his mother. This was his first time at school, he could not cause trouble for his mother.

Kaelan finally managed to sit down. The lesson began, but Kaelan found it difficult to concentrate. It was not because the lesson was difficult, quite the opposite, the material about basic calculations was very, very easy, as if he had understood it for a long time.

"Strange, I can't remember anything. But why does everything feel familiar," he said inwardly.

When recess began, all the children rushed outside. Kaelan remained seated at his desk, hoping someone would invite him to play, after all Kaelan was just a child who needed friends.

Suddenly, Brad and his two friends came and stood beside his desk.

"Hey, City Kid!" Brad shouted while punching Kaelan's desk. Kaelan immediately raised his face from his bag in surprise.

Brad glared at Kaelan with a fierce look. "Who do you think you are here?"

Kaelan did not answer, he felt too lazy to deal with that fat boy.

"Do you think we want to be friends with you? A prostitute's kid? Ugh!" Brad spat. "If you want to stay here, you have to obey us. Now, hand over your pocket money!"

Kaelan looked at Brad, somehow an incident like this had happened before, but he could not remember. "I don't have any money."

Brad immediately grabbed Kaelan by the collar of his shirt. "Don't lie! A kid from the city must have money!"

When Brad pulled Kaelan to his feet, Kaelan instinctively and unconsciously grabbed Brad's wrist that was holding him, exactly as he had done to the thugs at the market the other day.

When Kaelan's fingers touched Brad's skin, something strange spread through him. Not pain, but like a fierce impulse emerged.

Kaelan was very confused, even though he had tried to hold back his anger at being treated that way, he clearly felt that there was something in his body that could not accept being treated with such contempt.

"Let me go, you idiot!" Brad immediately grimaced.

Kaelan immediately released his grip. "Sorry," he replied briefly.

"Pathetic!" Brad cursed, pushing Kaelan backward. "Search his bag!"

Brad's two friends immediately snatched Kaelan's worn-out bag. They rummaged through its contents. There were only two books, a pencil, and a lunch box containing a sandwich and fried sausages. There was no money at all.

"Damn! Turns out he's really poor!" Brad snorted in disappointment, then casually threw Kaelan's bag away.

When his lunch box was about to be stepped on by Brad, Kaelan's vision seemed to darken. "Go ahead and step on it if you have the courage. But don't blame me if you can't use your legs anymore in the future," Kaelan said. His voice was completely different, cold, sharp, piercing.

Brad and his friends immediately shuddered. It was not because he was threatened by Kaelan's words, but that instinctive fear naturally appeared.

"What did you say?!" Brad asked, pretending to be angrier.

"Step on my food, and face the consequences!" Kaelan said. The words seemed as though they did not come from a child his age. But rather like an Emperor who was furious.

The temperature in the room suddenly dropped, even several degrees below zero. Besides that, the desks and floor suddenly became damp. Brad and his friends felt suffocated and had difficulty breathing.

When Kaelan was about to lose control, the voice of a middle-aged woman asking from outside the classroom was heard.

"Why aren't you going to the cafeteria for recess?"

BUZZ!!!

The oppressive aura in the room immediately disappeared. Kaelan saw that Brad and his friends had already left, without looking back at him again.

"Ugh." However, after Brad left, Kaelan suddenly felt pain. "What happened to me?"

Kaelan could not remember what had happened before. His head felt heavy, and his vision went dark, he did not know anything.

Kaelan immediately took his bag, and felt relieved when his lunch was still intact. However, he did not know, inside his body, there was a great power trying to overflow but struggling to break through the seal. That power did not allow its owner to be humiliated by anyone.