Praxis E. Aarexi III was the 5th prince of the Aarexian Empire and the 8th in line to the throne.
His father was the Emperor, and his mother was a prostitute. In Aarexia, it was not permissible to commit acts of adultery or to father children out of wedlock. Punishment for such a crime could result in a decade-long imprisonment or if the circumstances around the crime were egregious enough, then it could have ended in a hanging.
What punishment did his father receive for his actions? None. Rules were only meant for the common people, not the Emperor. The Emperor had the power to do as he willed. He was the supreme being in all his empire. All were to obey him, and this included the laws themselves.
While the amount of official wives the Emperor could take were limited because of political reasons, he could take as many courtesans, prostitutes, or women as he liked. Officially, he only had 3 wives, who birthed his seven other children, not including Praxis. In reality, the emperor fathered dozens possible in the hundreds of children in his lifetime.
He would often spend his nights with his favorite courtesans, prostitutes, or any women who caught his eye. Strangely, it was only one woman a night. He would not take more than one. However, it was a certainty that he always took one whenever he desired. One of those women, a young prostitute who caught his eye.
To this day, that woman officially never existed. She neither has a name nor does she have a face. No one knows why she was a prostitute or if she even was a prostitute. She could have just been some random girl the Emperor picked from the streets. No one knows her family or if she even had a family. She does not exist and never existed. One thing does remain that points to her existence because nine months after the Emperor took her, Praxis was born.
Being an illegitimate child of the Emperor meant a certain death. There was no law stating that such a child should be killed. However, to the rest of the royals, nobles, and political players, such a child was a danger. If allowed to live, they could become a direct threat to any of their claim to the throne. After an illegitimate child of the emperor was born, both the mother and the child would disappear.
Two people, one with decades of life full of experiences and tragedies. And another person who had yet to experience anything at all, both would simply vanish overnight. No one would ask questions as to why because the answer was always clear. They presented a very clear threat to certain people's claim of the Empire, and that means death.
It was certain that this would have been Praxis' fate, but when he was born, for some reason, the emperor pitied the infant.
"Let the child live. From this moment, this boy is a prince of the empire and shall be given the responsibilities and the hardships that come with the privilege."
Those were the Emperor's words and the only words ever spoken to Praxis. Sometimes Praxis imagines all the possible reasons why the Emperor let him live. Nothing ever made a vivid sense because right after he gave him life, the Emperor abandoned him. But the Emperor never gave any special attention to his children. He saw them all for what they were, puppets propped up to be used to eventually take his crown.
With the recognition of the Emperor, Praxis was an official prince of the empire and given the protections all royals were entitled to. He was allowed to live because of the Emperor, but he lived under the shadow of the Imperial Palace. He was a prince of the Empire, but he was always shackled and locked away.
Though Praxis survived, his mother did not. He grew up in the Royal Palace, not even knowing that he had a mother. Praxis was not allowed to ask questions about her and try to find out anything. If they even suspected him of doing anything, he was punished.
He eventually did end up finding out about his mother's fate. After Praxis' birth and induction into the royalhood, his mother officially disappeared. As did any trace that she ever existed. Praxis is constantly haunted by the thought that this woman, who once lived a life, is now dead because of him. If he weren't born, then maybe she might have been happy somewhere.
Praxis grew up in the world of the royals. He ate what they ate. He read their books and learned to speak like them. He was taught about their history and military supremacy, but never taught how to fight, as they saw it as a potential risk. A Prince who knows how to kill can murder his way to the crown. And they did not want to take that risk.
He grew up alongside and was watched over by them, but he was always treated worse than an outsider. Outsiders were the commoners to these people, which meant ignoring their existence. They only provided for the nobles and royals, but they were not important enough to care about. Praxis, on the other hand, was like vermin to the royals.
He wasn't a person to them, but something that eats, sleeps, and takes from the Empire. Not a human, not a commoner, but a disease that should not be caught. He was beaten, tortured, and riddled with scars of abuse throughout his body.
They made it clear that while he was allowed to live, he was never one of them. Even though he was a prince, he should never dream of getting the throne. The crown was meant for true princes, and he was a parasite.
Praxis did just as he was told to do by them. He never thought of the throne or even wanted a place in it. The other princes and princesses came from the Queens and had wealthy backings and armies to fight for their claim. They also had the support of other nobles and powerful individuals colluding with them in exchange for royal favors.
Praxis had nothing but a mind and body full of scars inflicted on him by these people. As he grew, he became apathetic about everything. He did not care about the Empire, about its people, about the royals, or even about himself. He just did as they told him to do and never talked back. He never thought about the throne or anything anything of the sort for all his 23 years of life. He was a blade that was dull from birth and then hammered flat into insignificance.
He performed all his duties as a Prince. He was an ambassador and diplomat for the Emperor. While he could not fight, he learned how to talk and negotiate with others. He gained a lot of influence and diplomacy outside the empire. He did it because they asked him to, and he did it too well. They saw him gaining power, and they needed him gone.
He only did everything they asked of him, and they still decided that they were going to kill him.
Now as he bled out in the middle of nowhere, the thought of how the pure disrespect of it all, further fueled his rage.