The royal lineage is Queen Domilia Aurelius and King Lucius Aurelius, along with their new baby boy, Prince Octavius Aurelius. The king and queen talked about a problem they had with the family, which had passed over to many generations and is now going over to Octavius as the little boy overheard his parents and heard the word curse. As Octavius grew older, he realized where all the pain had come from throughout his life. He had a rough childhood; his parents were strict and didn't let him do much. If he got too dirty or left the castle without permission, they would hit him as much as they wanted, with a belt or anything they could find or even with their hands. Octavius never had any time for fun, but what he did learn was how to be hidden and listen.
As Lucius became more ill, the more he became abusive to his family, primarily to Octavius. Even if Octavius made a slight mistake, his father would hit or slap him as often as his strength let him. One time, his mother had come home to find Lucius on top of Octavius, choking him as he was turning blue from lack of oxygen. At this point, his mother and dad began to fight about how he treated her son. It was a horrible sight for Domilia as she got someone to care for Octavius, and she became furious with her husband.
"How dare you to do that to my son? You almost killed him", Domilia had screamed at him.
"He spilled the water everywhere on me and on the table. It was a complete mess, and he was laughing", Lucius began speaking, "Octavius needs to learn that this behavior cannot be his habit,"
"Habit? he is a child; he doesn't learn this way. He needs love. Hitting and hurting him won't work that way, "Domilia explained, "How do you think this is teaching him? It is not good; what if he does this to his child when he's older.". He won't HAVE ONE IF WE FOLLOW WITH THE PLAN. COME ON DOMILIA; what do you think is going to happen? I'm dying already". Lusicus said. Domlila just stared at him and walked away. She couldn't believe why he would bring up the thought of the hidden secret, but secretly, it wasn't secret enough.
Octavius knew everything they tried to hide from him, but the one thing he could never imagine was the arranged marriage they planned for him with Faustina. As Octavius walked around the castle, he heard the one word he wished was gone: marriage. He listened to Faustina and knew it was the kingdom that King Theoridic ruled. He never liked their family. Lusicus speaks of such hatred toward their family that Octavius has the same hatred. Once he realized what was happening, he visited his mother first.
He went to see his mother alone and mentioned many things figured out." Mother, I wanted to talk to you about some things I noticed and needed to be confused to stop," Octavius said with his head down as he didn't know what was next.
"Oh honey, what kind of things? I don't want you to be confused with things too young to understand; I'll try my best to tell." Domilia looked up to Ovtavius with care and calm, ensuring he knew it would be okay.
"SO the first thing I know about was a curse that killed a father and soon will kill me, I think." Octavius looks straight at his mother with tears in his eyes.
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Domilia looked at her son with tearful eyes, and she realized he had heard every word but not the one big secret of why this was the cause of his father dying. "It is not that you are going to die along with your father, but the curse you heard is a part of this family; your father had this, and everyone in the family has followed through except for us; we didn't let it, but now your father is dealing the consequence. He argues and takes it out on you because he feels like it is you, but my baby, I promise it has nothing to do with you. Your father and I decided, and we have to keep it because it's the right thing to do". Octavius looked at his mother with a smile, but as he glanced past her head, that smile fell as soon as he saw him looking at him with hatred.
As Lusicus walked straight toward Octavius, he was pushed by his wife, Ma, the king, who fell over and grabbed his son with much force. As he dragged Octavius across the castle, he screamed, "YOU WANNA KNOW EVERYTHING? THEN YOU CAN KNOW WHY NOT SINCE YOU SUCH A BIG BOY NOW, HUH!".
As Octavius began to cry as he knew, he realized he was big enough to fight back, at least with his words instead of his muscles.
"WHY CAN'T I JUST BE A CHILD? YES, I WANT TO LEARN THE CURSE AND WHY I MARRIED THE DAUGHTER YOU HATE THE MOST. WHY CAN'T I GET A SAY IN ANYTHING? I'M THE NEW KING WHEN YOU DIE". Lusicus just stood there as his son stood up and yelled at him, but what made him stand still was that Octavius knew about the curse and the arranged marriage. Lusicus slapped him straight across the face and told him to sit if he wanted to learn the truth, which Octavius didn't listen and kept standing.
Lusicus had become speaking of the curse when he made Octavius sit as he heard the truth. "So the curse, however you learn or heard it from, is killing me, but it is not the reason for my anger. My anger is far from you, but this curse has passed through to me, and now it's toward you; the meaning of this is that our firstborn needs to be killed as a sacrifice to keep the king alive longer before the new prince needs to be king. Still, as we did not follow that plan, we realized I would die after your 18th birthday". As Octavius sat there just frozen, he spoke one word, "Faustina." Lusicus knew what that meant and had to explain, but he knew he should let her talk to him when his wife came in.
"Hello honey, so Faustina is the woman I will marry. I know it's a shock for both of us, but we need this; you are our firstborn, and we refuse to kill you and know your father is dying, and on your 18th birthday, you will be king. It would be best to have a queen before you turn king, and we have decided that you will marry Faustina a week before your 18th birthday".
"Mom, I can't marry her? We hate that kingdom, and marrying into that family would destroy us. And this curse is killing father, and now it's my choice to kill my firstborn or kill myself, and as my father died, and having to deal with this marriage in almost seven years, mom, I'm 11".
"Exactly, son, you are 11, which means we have many years to prepare you for this marriage. I know how you feel, but in front of all of us, you are more mature than an 11-year-old". Lucius began speaking before he sat down because of his coughing.
"I'M MATURE BECAUSE OF YOU, DAD. YOU HAVE HIT ME SINCE I WAS 6, WHERE EVERYTHING I DO THAT YOU HATE YOU MADE ME THIS, BUT THAT DOES MEAN I WANT TO GET MARRIED". Octavius looked at his father and mother with tears as he left the room. He couldn't believe what had to be done, but knowing he shouldn't have been alive was one the worst news he ever got, which made his life not any easier.