"There's only one person in this Empire who has both the motive and the means to arrange all this; Crown prince, Ansh Agnihotri."

"The Crown prince? He arranged all this? You mean tried to ki…" he stuttered a little, hesitated to speak out of line but then continued as he considered it too important to omit, "You think he tried to kill you? Why would he want to get you killed?"

"Well, why wouldn't he? He will be crowned as the Emperor in next month; then they'll need to choose the next heir to the throne. And the only person that can possibly stop his oldest son, Dhruv from becoming the new crown prince, is me."

"You think he'd go this far just ensure Prince Dhruv's succession? Attack one of his family?", Calix asked hesitantly.

"I expected him not to; and look what happened because of that, I nearly got mauled by a beast. Then again, I doubt he ever thought of me as his family.", Blaze looked sad; he knew very well that Ansh didn't particularly like him but never expected to be attacked by him.

"So what now? What will you do?"

Calix's such a small question troubled Blaze greatly, he couldn't just ignore this attempt on his life; Today, only he is the target but what if in the future his Maa is the one whose life is in danger. Blaze knew he must resolve this himself; but then, what? Confrontation? But that wouldn't work, he doesn't have enough evidence to prove his suspicions. Blaze could request the Emperor for protection, but in a few months that would be useless as well. when Ansh becomes the Emperor the very guards who protected him may try to kill him; he could very well be executed for treason for nothing! So then? 'What am I supposed to do', he kept asking himself, but he could not think of any way out of this problem.

But then suddenly, an idea emerged in his mind. The actual problem was that Blaze lacked authority to prevent these attempts by Ansh once he becomes the Emperor. So then who was the one person in the empire whom even the Emperor couldn't dare to harm? Ah! The answer was always right in front of him.

"He wants to get rid of me because he fears I might obstruct Dhruv's succession, right? Then what if I just prove his paranoia right?"

"What do you mean, my lord?"

"The crown prince, the only other person in the whole Agni Empire to have enough authority to stand his ground against the Emperor himself. If I were to become the next crown prince, I'd be safe, even he couldn't kill me; And as the crown prince I'd have enough power to ensure the safety of my loved ones. Yes, yes that's the way… That's the only way!!"

Calix gave Blaze a thorough look and understood that he had already made his decision; he smiled and then said, "Then your participation in the Agni Trial must be announced in today's Banquet."

"The banquet? Do we really need to announce it today?"

"Of course my lord! Think about it; all the noblemen of Agnisthal, the envoys from other royal families, everyone will be present there. If you were to announce your participation in the trial in front of all those people, Even Crown prince would have to think twice before trying anything like this again."

Really, such fast thinking, only an experienced strategist could come up with a plan of action this fast. Blaze quickly realized the importance of this immediate announcement.

"Fine, go attend the banquet for now, I'll join you shortly. I-uh need to talk to my mother, she deserves to know about all this."

"As you wish, my lord." Calix departed. Blaze went up to Nila's room, and knocked on the door.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

Nila had just finished getting ready to attend the banquet, seeing Blaze return to her room made her think that he had come to nag her get ready faster.

"Oh! You don't need to keep rushing me ha, I'm already rea……"

Blaze had already entered the room, Nila immediately recognized the look on his face; so she asked him with great concern, "What happened?"

"It was him. He planned it all." Blaze told Nila everything he found out about this incident; she was totally taken aback by what Blaze was saying, she couldn't believe any of it. And after keenly listening to Blaze Nila finally asked, "So now what? What do we do now?"

"I'm here on Prince Blaze's behalf to announce his participation in the Trial of Agni as the 2nd Prince of the Royal Agnihotri Family!!", Calix made this announcement standing on a high pedestal. Every single noblemen present in the Banquet was utterly surprised by this sudden turn of events as they all knew how the illegitimate prince had refused to take part in the trial several times previously.

But all their shock combined didn't stand a chance against Ansh's confusion about what the hell could've caused this. But he knew very well that this sudden advancement needed to be dealt with immediately. Ansh whispered something to one of his knights; the knight then nodded and rushed out of the banquet.

The Emperor questioned Calix in a threatening manner, "You come into the Banquet and announce something so pivotal just like that, as if it's of no significance. Do you have any idea how you would be punished if the Prince were to deny this announcement."

"I do know actually. But If I'm a good judge of character, which I like to think of myself as, I am quite certain that Prince Blaze will never go back on this decision. And if you ask me your highness, then I'd say judging by the reason he had to take this decision, he might even pass the trial and beat the other prince."

"ATROCIOUS!!!", Ansh couldn't keep his demeanor anymore, "How dare you say that a lowly bastard child like him could ever defeat my, MY SON?!!"

"Calm down honored Crown Prince; I only said what I believe and judging by the fact that freedom of speech is quite respected in Agnisthal, I would say you have no right to yell at the Royal Head Strategist like that in front of all the foreign envoys."

Ansh was brimming with anger both from Blaze's sudden objection and a mere servant's audacity. He certainly would've punished Calix then and there, but couldn't do it as the Emperor would never allow it in a royal banquet.

Then Calix spoke again, "And in my opinion you should realize that I shan't be held accountable for what the Prince had asked of me. Prince Blaze will soon join the banquet; you should save your queries for him; I'm quite sure he would like to answer them.

"Yeah, we'll see about that!" the anger on Ansh's face was clearly visible as he marched away from Calix.

"What's with all the commotion?" Asked a fair girl wearing a gorgeous white gown and the boy beside her who seemed not more than 1 or 2 years older than her answered, "Not too sure, but I heard There's an illegitimate prince named uhhh, Blaze or something maybe?"

"Illegitimate prince?"

"Yeah, the father's identity is unknown or something. That prince doesn't even have their family name I heard."

"A prince without a Royal title? Heh! Fascinating." The young lady and her brother were part of the Royal envoy of the great 'Nation of Atlan', the crown princess and the 2nd prince of their nation; both of them had light blue hair and green eyes. Remona, the princess asked her brother, "Why has he not arrived yet?"

"Who? That prince?"

"Yes! There was such a vital announcement regarding him and yet, he's not here yet."

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"Oh! Don't think about him. I highly doubt that bratty prince will even attend the banquet."

"Ruk! Don't say stuff like that out loud!! And how are you so sure he is 'bratty' anyway?"

"Oh come on! He grew up without a father, of course his mother spoiled him rotten."

Remona always hated this belief of Ruk that all the mothers are capable of is giving birth and keeping their children healthy, and that person's character can only be constructed by their father; but she knew no matter how much she argued he would not change his beliefs so she chose to remain silent.

Remona thought to herself, "I wonder what that prince is doing right now."

Blaze was dying.

He was lying on the floor with a spear impaled in his stomach, slowly bleeding out; the blood dripping from his wounds had dyed his white suit red. The room he was trapped in was mostly on fire, in fact the whole house was. The spear sticking out of his stomach wasn't the only injury he had; most of his bones were broken, there was also an arrow stuck in his kneecap.

All those injuries hurt just as much as his heart did; He was not dying because of an attack of an enemy; his death was caused by one of his own family.

He was tired, really tired; It's not as if he hadn't fought for his life, he fought and fought and fought, but the assassins that attacked were too trained. Still Blaze managed to kill 7 of them, but they were too many; a few dozens it seemed to him. They nearly killed him but didn't finish the job; instead they trapped him in one of the rooms and set the whole house on fire. His death was imminent.

It is said that right before one's death, they get glimpses of their whole lives; but what Blaze was getting glimpses of was the fight he had with the attackers, the torture he suffered and the pain they inflicted on him. Blaze was crying, he didn't want to close his eyes because every time he did, he saw those horrible moments, as if he was living through that hell once again.

But he was so tired, his eyes seemed so heavy to him; it was as if his body was urging him to take rest. But his soul knew that if he did, it would be the end and he did not want those horrific memories to be the ones he remembered in his last moments. It was then, that his eyes fell upon a picture on the shelf in front of him; the shelf had already caught on fire.

It was a picture of him and his Maa in a small frame; he intently looked at the picture and tried to recall the sweet moments he had spent with his mother. But it was getting so hard to look at the picture; his tears made it difficult to stare. Blaze somehow dragged his hand to his face and wiped his tears with great effort and then he noticed, the fire was reaching towards that picture!

Blaze couldn't just let it be destroyed like that, so he tried to get himself up and save the picture; but the moment he lifted his body just a little, he felt it, the pain! All the pain! He fell headfirst into the floor again. Then he lifted his head up a bit and looked at the picture. The fire! It was slowly burning the picture! Blaze reached out to it with his right hand but he was still too far; instead his hand caught on fire. But it didn't hurt, maybe because he was so focused on the picture. His face on the picture was already burnt, now the fire was going towards his mother's face.

"No! Please stop… Nooooo!!" He shouted with every bit of energy left in him.

And suddenly something impossible happened, the fire diverted. Blaze was dumbfounded, but then he felt a strange energy inside of him, he felt as if his wounds were healing, and they really were. All of his injuries were healing with a scorching effect; it looked as if all the cells around the wounds were burning and then regenerating once again. He then pulled out the spear from his stomach and the arrow from his knee; and just in a matter of a few seconds Blaze could stand up again.

Then he felt something else, a connection; but to what?

"The fire?!" Blaze wondered and he damn right he was!

The very fire that was about to burn him to death, suddenly felt familiar; as if the fire was listening to him, obeying him. The fire was swaying the same way Blaze was swaying his body; then his gaze fell on his right hand. It looked like his hand was on fire, but it wasn't burning him; he was able to control the fire. After 17 years of humiliation, his powers had finally blossomed. He was amused, overjoyed.

"NO!" Blaze said firmly as he remembered that this was no time to get happy; he looked at the picture and subconsciously shouted, "Maa! I have to find her!"

Then Blaze snatched the picture from the frame, held it tight in his hand, gathered all the flames in that room and focused it towards the wall which he knew faced the garden and blew a huge hole in the house.

*Crash**BOOM**CRAASSSSHH*

"What the…" the assassins who were splashing crude oil in the garden were shocked by the big explosion and a huge piece of debris covered in fire falling right in front of them; but much to their surprise, it wasn't any debris, it was the Prince they heard was taken care of. The flames surrounding Blaze scattered and ignited all the crude oil; some of those people also caught on fire; they ran around in pain screaming, begging for help, until their life escaped their bodies. The garden which was once full of beautiful, fragrant flowers now looked like a scorched battleground.

"Where's my mother?! Where is she?!!"

Every assassin who somehow avoided the fire, quickly drew out there weapons and stood ready kill the Prince who was there target.

"Surrender immediately, and we would think about giving you an easy death." One of the assassins said with a smirk; There were about a dozen of them, the sorry prince stood alone, they had the upper hand. Or so they thought.

"Death? And easy? *sigh* You have offered me an easy death. But you see, I'm not as kind as you; I won't 'offer' you an 'easy' death. I'm gonna grant you the most gruesome and painful death any of you could ever possibly imagine." Blaze's words shook all of their hearts, they somehow had a feeling that this prince was not just bluffing.

"You damn brat!!" one of them yelled and rushed towards Blaze with his mace, ready to swing at full force. But he made one mistake, the mistake of underestimating a 'Royal Blood'.

Blaze quickly dodged the mace and grabbed that man's wrist; the man had worn a metal plate on his arm. He suddenly realized that he had messed up catastrophically, the metal plate had started to heat up, just from the heat of Blaze's hand; his instincts told him not to move even an inch, as he felt that a predator had gotten hold of him.

"Do you know how much it hurts to have molten metal poured directly on your skin?" Blaze asked as his hand heated up more and more, till that metal plate started melting.

"AAARRGHHGGH!!!" the assassin screamed his lungs out in pain as the molten metal from that plate burned through his skin, Blaze let go of his hand but there was nearly nothing left of it. He could do nothing else but stay there on his knees, shrieking and shaking in unbearable pain.

"Well now you know." Blaze said calmly.

All the other assassins w stood there absolutely baffled as they realized that the prince they had come to kill, turned out to be a …….

"Monster!!" One of them yelled.

"Monster? Me? I'm the monster here? You!! You break into my house! Nearly kill me!! Endanger my family!!! And I am the monster?!! No no no no, I'm no monster! And you are no innocent men!"

The men who were trained to be killers all their lives had finally come across someone, no! Something that frightened them deeply; for the first time they were truly afraid for their lives. And to make everything worse Blaze spoke again, "So I'm asking again. Where is my mother? Where is she?!!!"

Every one of the assassins were too scared to answer his question, because they knew that once they tell him, their death would be imminent.

"She's dead." The man kneeling down in pain in front of Blaze said in a low voice.

"What?" Blaze got close to his face, "What did you just say?"

The man looked at Blaze with loathing eyes and shouted with all his power, "She's dead! You hear me? We killed her, she begged and begged for mercy but we didn't show none. We killed her viciously, we defiled that bitch over and o..mmph." Blaze grabbed him right by his mouth; the man now looked at Blaze's face and saw tears rolling down from his eyes.

"Die." Said Blaze and burned the man down to ashes.

The remaining assassins were shaking in their boots, as they had already realized how that man had sealed their fate, ensured their demise.

"I couldn't…. *sniffle* I couldn't even protect you, Maa!!" Blaze broke down at last, his heart was aching, far more than the pain he had experienced physically. He stared at the picture of his mother; He cried and cried and cried, till the anger in him triumphed over the sorrow of his lose.

"You! You people killed her. Why? Whyyy??!!!" Blaze screamed at the men before him.

"We just followed orders! We were hired to do this."

"Orders? Hired? By who?"

"Someone with the title Agnihotri; that's all we know, I swear."

Blaze covered his face with his hand and then started laughing maniacally, "He really killed his own family, for a throne, that damn throne! He actually hired people to kill me, to kill us."

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah, he hired us! This is nothing personal dude!" one of the assassins said, trying to convince Blaze to let them go.

"Nothing personal you say; after killing my mother! None of you are leaving here alive."

All of them knew they were about to be attacked so they thought of running for their lives, but they soon realized what the Prince said was true. They were trapped, surrounded by fire; they couldn't escape, nor did they have any chance of winning against that monster. So they did nothing, knelt down and surrendered to their demise, The illegitimate Prince Blaze Kamiyama.

There was once a time when Nila and Blaze played around in this garden; Blaze had no friends of his own age, and nor did he need any. To him, his Maa was more than enough. He utterly loved plucking red roses and making a floral crown out of them for Nila, his beloved Maa.

But what was the significance of this garden anymore? Why would it exist? Now that he has no one to make a Rose Crown for.

So he burned it down; he burned it until no one could ever imagine that there was a garden there ever before.

The assassin were destroyed with not even a speck of them left. The house behind him was fully scorched; and the fire finally extinguished. Blaze fell on the ground, a ground covered in grey ashes of everything the fire had erased. Blaze lied there, looking up at the sky; he could hear some people coming. Were they the royal guards? Or maybe some more assassins?

Well, it didn't matter; Blaze was too tired to get up anyway. He closed his eyes and wished to reunite with his only true family, his Maa.

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