《I Ate the Royal Prince's Heart Out》 Prologue Eighteen years ago, a few weeks before the birth of their first born son, Rowan Amadeus Lucios Polaris, the heir to the throne, the heavily pregnant empress and her most trusted maid set out to see the oracle so they would know what was to come for her child. As many mothers do, the empress wanted to make sure that her child would live well and prosper in this world and that he would never need or want anything that she and her husband, his majesty, the royal emperor, could not provide. As she and her maid stepped out of the electric hover car that all royals who wanted to be inconspicuous rode in, she could already sense that the air at the oracle¡¯s home was different. The empress had never liked the oracle, but she knew in her heart that this was what a good mother like her should do. However, the air seemed more wicked than normal and uneasiness. The empress¡¯ maid told her it was most likely due to pregnancy hormones but the empress still felt convinced that it had something to do with the news the oracle would be giving her. They stepped inside the disheveled palace of the oracle, long not well taken care of as no one would want to willingly work in such an area besides the oracle. The empress was half convinced that the oracle was not in the right mind. ¡°I had been expecting you to come here soon, Your Majesty, Empress Nadia Delo Lucios Polaris, the shining star of our empire. I see that you are far along with your child. A boy.¡± The empress nodded, ¡°Yes, the doctors told me that I will be having a son.¡± The oracle smiled, she was quite beautiful, despite her very old age, with long pale white hair and light blue eyes, she looked to be roughly the queen¡¯s age. However, she was far older than anyone else alive and always seemed to have a strange air around her, ¡°Yes. I assume you came for me to read his fate.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.The empress nodded as the oracle beconned for her to sit down, ¡°It seems that your son will be your sole child, but he will be very powerful. He will have some of the strongest powers in your family for generations to come.¡± The empress¡¯ eyes widened in shock, but she said nothing, her maid putting a hand on her shoulder, ¡°And what else, oracle?¡± The oracle nodded, ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I should say what is next. It may hurt you, especially since you are in such a vulnerable state, your majesty.¡± The empress and her maid gasped in horror, ¡°You must say it anyway. I have to know. This is the only way that I can protect my child.¡± The oracle nodded, ¡°Your son will be born ill, with a sickness incurable and unheard of by any doctor that you will ever find or see. The sickness will lead to his death-¡± The empress began wailing in horror that her sole child would suffer and die so agonizingly, ¡°Wait, my empress, for there is still hope for your son and the heir to the kingdom. The sickness will lead to his death unless he finds the girl of death and manages to get her to kiss him by his nineteenth birthday.¡± The empress dried her face, ¡°But how can we find her? Has she been born yet or-¡± The oracle laughed, ¡°That I cannot help you with. It must be a kiss from true love, though, my empress, so even if you did find her, she may not even be so willing to help you. She must willingly kiss him and even then, I have no idea of the side effects or how long it will save your son. The fates do not reveal all.¡± The empress stood up abruptly, walking away with her maid, not even saying a thanks or a parting word, the rotting floorboards creaking under them as they headed back towards the electric hover car. As the two sped away, the oracle laughed bitterly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much, my dearest young empress. You¡¯ll wish your precious son had died from his sickness soon enough.¡± Chapter 1 -Raven POV- She slipped inside quietly, punching in her card as the bell rang for her shift to begin. The factory bell was always on time, reminding the stragglers like her that they had nearly been late. The punishment for being late was no wages and repeat offenses led to having a finger cut off and losing the job. No factory would hire someone with a missing finger and thus the offender would have to live a life worse than death working at one of the many brothels in the city until they were no longer useful and cast out onto the streets to die. ¡°Raven,¡± The foreman glared at her, evidently displeased by her near tardiness, ¡°I am sure you will not be almost late tomorrow, correct?¡± Raven¡¯s eyebrows shot up, ¡°Yes sir, but what exactly is tomorrow?¡± The foreman sighed, putting a hand to his face, ¡°Maybe if you had shown up earlier, you wouldn¡¯t have missed the important meeting that I had told you all about yesterday. The royals have come to visit the city with their son. We have been one of the lucky factories chosen for them to tour during their stay.¡± Raven resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He had never mentioned any such meeting, and by lucky, he most definitely meant that everything had to be in perfect condition or she risked immediate firing. ¡°I understand sir.¡± The foreman nodded, ¡°Good. Now go to your station and get to work. We¡¯re already behind schedule because of you.¡± Raven softly sighed, blowing a strand of her dark hair out of her face. If he hadn¡¯t kept her for so long to scream at her, she wouldn¡¯t have had so much time wasted, she mused, putting on the plastic mesh that kept her hair from getting caught in the machinery. Well, she didn¡¯t exactly work with any of the machines like her friend, Julia, did. In comparison, Raven¡¯s job was easy, especially for one at a death factory. The factory was one of many in the country of Olom, where death was a business. Everyone all across the world shipped their dead here in order to be cremated and disposed of. Factories like Raven¡¯s were one of hundreds if not thousands. If one shut down, another two were created, as the only thing constant in life was death. She headed towards her station looking at her first cadaver of the day. Her job was to remove all articles of clothing and jewelry off the people¡¯s bodies before they were cremated and turned into ash. Today¡¯s first person was a young man, his fingertips turned black and his chest hollow. He most definitely worked at one of the factories, another victim of the unclean air. Most factory workers did not make it past the age of thirty, killed by the air and fumes that they were always inhaling. There were never any breaks for the factories. Workers came in and out according to the shifts that they had been assigned. The country was always awake and working. One body at a time. ¡°Raven,¡± Julia hissed from her station, ¡°Come over to my house tonight. Jayden and I have something to tell you there.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.Raven nodded dutifully. Julia and Jayden had been together for as long as Raven could remember, though always in secret. If Jayden¡¯s father, the factory owner himself, found out, he would send Jayden far away and fire Julia, making sure that she was as good as dead. He would never accept a relationship between his child and a ¡®lowly¡¯ factory girl. Raven turned back to her work, focusing on her latest body, a young girl, roughly her age with pale yellow hair and hazel green eyes. She had definitely never worked as her uncalloused hands were adorned with gold jewelry that Raven could only imagine ever owning. She couldn¡¯t even steal them as the foreman watched them like a hawk, lest anyone do anything similar to what she had thought of. She sighed mournfully, tossing the pretty gold rings in a plastic bucket where the rest of the discarded jewelry went, most likely sent off to be traded to other countries in exchange for munitions. The foreman shouted a few words at them, but Raven could scarcely hear them over the sounds of the machinery. It was probably curses and swears as he was usually pretty drunk by her shift. As she mindlessly finished removing the clothes and jewelry of an older woman, a rare sight, she heard the bell that marked the end of her shift and the beginning of the one for some worker to come take over her job. As she headed outside, she felt Julia¡¯s presence behind her, ¡°We¡¯re going to the house on the other side of town,¡± She whispered to Raven. Raven resisted the urge to groan; walking to Jayden¡¯s house took half an hour at least on a good day. Julia must have noticed her face as she whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Jayden promised to send a hover car to take you home.¡± Raven smiled half heartedly, trying to make her best friend feel better as they walked in relative silence the rest of the way there. Opening the door to Jayden¡¯s home always stunned Raven. Jayden lived in luxury, a single room in their house larger than Raven¡¯s entire apartment. The decoration and furniture was also some of the highest quality, or at least compared to anything else Raven had ever seen. Jayden and Julia sat down on the loveseat as Raven sat on the futon. ¡°Raven, Julia and I have something to tell you,¡± they began as Julia pressed a finger to their lips. ¡°Raven, Jayden and I are going to be leaving town. We can¡¯t stay here anymore, waiting each day that maybe Jayden¡¯s father dies or suddenly changes his mind about someone like me.¡± Raven¡¯s mouth parted into a small o, shock hitting her like a giant wave of disappointment. Her best friend, gone? No. She needed to pretend, for her friend¡¯s sake, that everything was fine. This is exactly what her friend had been waiting for for so long. Raven put on her biggest smile, sticking her tongue out teasingly, ¡°I am so happy for you guys, but you better make sure I get to come to the wedding. I¡¯ll never forgive you if I can¡¯t.¡± Chapter 2 -Rowan POV- The town of Rida was nothing like he¡¯d expected. It was worse. The place smelled like shit and he could barely breathe, even worse than normal, the smoke from the death factories clogging his throat and making him want to cough with each step. His parents were insane for even wanting to come to such a place. Why would he want to know where he was going to be burned and turned to ash at some point in the next year? It was so boring also, being driven from one factory to the next, seeing equally miserable people doing equally miserable jobs, but he knew better than to even look as though he was bored. His parents would kill him if he did. The royal prince was to care about all his subjects no matter their status and to always have a smile on his face. When they stopped at the last factory, Rowan thought he¡¯d die of happiness. The end was in sight, he was almost free of this publicity stunt and idiotic show. God it was disgusting This factory was like all the other ones, nothing special. A bunch of young workers, around his age or so, all looking half dead inside, many of their fingertips turning black, their clothes far too big for most of them. Her. She looked at him with her dark eyes, back and forth between him and her work, and again he felt like he couldn¡¯t breathe, but in a different way this time. His heart was racing but he couldn¡¯t look away. What was wrong with him? Was this some new symptom of his illness that he hadn¡¯t had before? He forced himself to look the other way at some other workers, but he could barely see anymore. The world slowly became blurrier and blurrier and he could feel himself falling, hitting the pavement head on. Was this what death was like? Was she the grim reaper himself in disguise coming for him finally? He had thought that he had another year at least, but at least now he¡¯d be free from everything. He could hear faint screaming and shouting, flashing lights everywhere from people rushing around. Probably some of the noise came from his mother and father calling for the royal doctor who had come with them on the trip. Call her, it wasn¡¯t like she could do anything now. The factory was probably in chaos, and he wanted to smile at the thought that at least he¡¯d made something happen with his death. He tried to force his lips to curve into one but it was too difficult. It was time to rest now. Someone was hovering over his body, probably the doctor, pressing their hands to his chest. They were rough and calloused from a lifetime of work, so it couldn¡¯t have been Doctor Evers. Perhaps one of the workers was trying to check for a pulse? Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.He could slowly feel himself regaining strength. How could it be? He was dying, almost dead and now he felt like new. Rowan sat up, looking at who could have done such a cruel thing to him, robbing him of the peace he had so longed for. Of course it was her. The girl with the dark eyes and hair, as dark as it was outside during a midnight storm. Curse her. But how could a commoner like her save him? Only royals had such powers, and even then, a royal with healing powers had been unheard of for centuries, even before the third wars. The prince stared at her with shock, ¡°How did you save me?¡± The girl opened her mouth, about to say something, but instead crumpling to the floor. He caught her with his left arm, her head in its crook. ¡°Typical,¡± He whispered, slowly setting her down as everyone in the room stared at them with shock. ¡°Your Majesty, Prince Rowan Amadeus Lucios Polaris, are you okay?¡± The doctor rushed over to him, starting to check his vital signs. Rowan swatted her away, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Check on her however,¡± He pointed to the girl on the ground, still unconscious, ¡°Somehow she managed to save me.¡± The royal doctor nodded as his mother walked over to him, announcing to the death factory workers who had all gathered there, ¡°Thank you for your kind gestures and words. However, we will now be leaving. We will take this young girl with us in return for her kind acts, and will ensure that she receives the best care at the royal palace.¡± The crowd that had gathered gasped in happy surprise for the girl; all but one of them, a short girl with long braids, looked worriedly at the girl that the royal security forces were now carrying out on a stretcher. Rowan raised his eyebrows at the sight, but said nothing, instead walking away, smiling at the crowd. Confidence was key. He had to reassure the girl that her friend would be perfectly fine. The girl with the dark eyes probably would be. The palace had some of the best physicians as they always needed some to treat him. They were useless for him though, but he pretended that wasn¡¯t true as he waved, smiling graciously. What were the tabloids calling him these days? Emperor Congeniality or something like that. It wasn¡¯t for no reason. Chapter 3 -Raven POV- She opened her eyes, the room so bright that she felt blinded by its shining lights. Raven tried to sit up, but she struggled, covered in three thick blankets and comforters. The room was even nicer than Jayden¡¯s apartment, adorned with jewels everywhere and beautiful gold furniture. It seemed borderline gaudy, but also well arranged and neat. So yesterday wasn''t a dream; she was in the royal palace, in Olom¡¯s capital city: Nyam. She¡¯d done something so stupid, and now she was going to be paying the price. ¡°You¡¯re finally awake,¡± the prince laughed,¡±I thought you died. To be honest, I really did hope you lived, though.¡± Raven¡¯s eyes widened in shock at his nonchalant attitude. Hadn¡¯t he almost died yesterday? ¡°I wish I had let you die,¡± The words came out of her mouth as she quickly put her hands on her mouth. The prince just laughed again, ¡°To tell you the truth, I wish I had died there too.¡± Raven stared at him, was he insane? ¡°My bad,¡± She deadpanned, ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m all healed so you can die in peace now. Can I go back home now, your royal majesty?¡± The prince stared at her as if she was the crazy one, ¡°Why would you want to go back to that shithole?¡± Raven blinked twice, ¡°Because it¡¯s my home and everything and everyone I know is there?¡± Well, that wasn¡¯t entirely true. Julia would soon be gone, and she would be all alone, but that seemed better than whatever the prince and his equally insane family seemed to have planned for her. ¡°Well, I sincerely doubt that you will be going back there anytime soon, factory girl,¡± The prince scoffed. Raven rolled her eyes, laughing at him, If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°My name isn¡¯t ¡®factory girl¡¯, royal brat, it¡¯s Raven. Raven Alo.¡± The prince glanced at her, ¡°Alright, Raven,¡± He seemed to spit out her name as though it was a disgusting curse, ¡°You can call me Rowan. I think we¡¯re going to be seeing each other quite a lot these days and I believe that it would be much easier for you to call me by my first name rather than my official title whenever we speak.¡± Raven scoffed, please, he was so annoying, ¡°You think that we¡¯ll be talking that much? I wouldn¡¯t have called you by that ridiculous name anyway, royal brat.¡± He stood up, laughing at her bitterly, ¡°I have no idea what I could have done to insult you so much, to make you hate me the way you do, Raven, but just know that I don¡¯t regret it. You are one of the biggest asses that I have ever met. I am trying to make peace with you, but you continue to attack. I don¡¯t know what to say.¡± Raven stood up, getting off of the bed, leaning into him, his back against the wall. He blushed but Raven didn¡¯t notice at all. ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, royal brat, I know exactly what to say. You should really get out more if I¡¯m the biggest ass you¡¯ve ever met-¡± The prince pointed at her face, his face still flushed pink, ¡°Raven, you¡¯re bleeding from your left ear.¡± Raven laughed, not moving away from him, ¡°Please, do you really think that I would believe you?¡± The prince shook his head, ¡°Genuinely, you are. It¡¯s what happens if you use your powers way too much for some people. It¡¯s interesting how you have some however. Commoners aren¡¯t supposed to be able to do the things you did. Not even royals have such a power; the family of healers supposedly died out long before either of us were born. So either you are one of them or something very strange is happening. Either way, factory girl, you should probably not use your powers for a while.¡± Raven¡¯s eyebrows shot up in disbelief as she only stepped away from him, saying nothing, touching the bloody side as she sat back down on the giant bed. ¡°You know I¡¯m right,¡± He started again, ¡°So, you can hate me. We can be enemies, but let¡¯s help each other out. If you help me die painlessly, I¡¯ll make sure that you can escape and live the rest of your days in luxury.¡± Raven stared at him as he slowly walked towards her, ¡°And how will you make sure that I get my end of the deal, royal brat? Why don¡¯t I just stab you right here and now?¡± Rowan laughed, leaning against her, now pushing her against the bedframe, ¡°You¡¯ll just have to take a chance, factory girl. Besides, you can¡¯t just kill me like that. They¡¯ll have your head if you try any funny business. Even if it¡¯s not your fault, I¡¯ll make sure that you die too, if I die of anything besides my sickness.¡± He gave a wide grin at her, as she scowled. He thought he was so funny and charismatic, didn''t he. ¡°Fine. I agree, but then how should I kill you?¡± He tilted his head from side to side, almost like contemplating this, ¡°You have to heal me until my nineteenth birthday. That is when I am destined to die, so about ten months from now. That means you have to keep me out of pain for that long. After that I will die of natural causes.¡± Raven laughed, ¡°Fine, royal brat. I¡¯ll do it.¡±