Kaito had grown up in the shadow of Velyria's rigid rules. His mother had been a servant, and his father a noble. It was a love that should never have happened, and it had cost his mother her life. Kaito had been raised in the castle, but not as a nobleman's son. Instead, he was relegated to the kitchens, working as a servant for the prince—Augustine. He had rarely seen the prince, only catching glimpses of him as he passed through the halls, flanked by soldiers and tutors.
Kaito had heard stories of his father, though. Stories of a man who had turned his back on him the moment his mother had been discovered. His father was out there, somewhere, living his life while Kaito was nothing more than a shadow, an outcast in the place he should have called home.
Though he carried noble blood, Kaito was treated like any other servant, subjected to the abuses allowed by Velyria's strict class system. As a male servant, he faced not only physical hardship but the darker horrors of assault, including rape, from those who saw him as less than human. His status as a servant made it permissible, and he bore these abuses in silence, carrying the weight of his pain alone.
One day, while scrubbing the floor of the grand hall, Kaito caught sight of Augustine training in the courtyard. For a moment, their eyes met, and Kaito felt a strange connection—a fleeting recognition of something shared, something broken inside both of them. But then, the moment passed, and Augustine turned away, oblivious to the servant who bore the blood of nobility in his veins.
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