Tom's POV

Soon I started training, his highness wasn't as relaxed as I thought he would be to me. At first the training was boring, mindfullness, concentration, breathing and calmness was not in my book but I had to learn. I was able to learn how to control how much power escapes into my spells and was able to refrain from bursting out from anger, this highly impressed him. Then we started to do some intense training, combat skills, along with defence and agility.

From Monday to Friday it was the intense training and on Saturday mindfulness. Day to day it was the same song sung, however, I shortly managed to get the hang of my powers and, as the emperor put it 'Get to understand' the power as if it were a human. His words still echoed through my mind.

" It's not only you in your body, it's another species, another entity in a sense... you must learn to control it and not let it control you."

Those words stuck with me, all my blood sweat and tears got put into being able to control this entity.

" Don't fight the power for control. Instead pacify it into agreement."

In rain, storm and heat I pushed myself. Mastering the art of magic and the abilities that I was learning, Jainil magic. Dream claimed that I was able to possess more than one with what I'm able to do now. I, on the other hand, was not too sure about it.

"How can I...be sure that I won't lose my mind to these powers?" I asked unsure, hesitance was the only thing that prevented me from in a sense reaching my potential. Its been a few months already since he took me in, does he really have that much faith?

Shifting myself across the room, he followed, " I can see that potential in you, you just gotta see it yourself." He quoted, walking past me towards the door, his hand on the handle, I had my arms crossed as I leaned against a cupboard. " It's rare to see a kid with your abilities, especially at this age. Tom." He looked at me with fire in his eyes, " Don't waste this opportunity-" he coughed out before walking out without giving me another chance to speak.

Sighing, I moved over to the balcony and stared out to the distance. What would Ranboo have done? I thought to myself, he's probably forgotten about me. My chest ached at the thought of that. I sent him multiple letters constantly, but soon, hours turned into days. And days turned into weeks. And weeks turned into months.

Yes. He definitely forgotten that I exist. My eyes softened at the realisation of being forgotten, was I that irrelevant in people's lives? Ranboo constantly used to say, " As long as I'm here, no one can harm you." My hands gripped the railing as I let out a soft scoff, that's right I'm all on my own now, left to fend for myself. Guess he got tired of looking after me and as soon as he got that job he probably thought 'Yes. This is my chance to ditch him.'.

My heart hardened, after all it wasn't the first time being abandoned. Despite not knowing where I came from, I vaguely remember a figure dropping me off in a forest, merely saying in a chirpy tone ' Count to 30, we're playing hide and seek.' And then never seeing that figure again. Tears dropped at the sides of my face, what if the emperor and auntie do the same.

The cold air blew as I watched the sun drop below horizon line. From that day onwards, I learnt to become wary of people.

*14th Birthday*

I plastered a fake smile on my face as my pretend family crowdded me in the crammed house, with a fake cake, fake candles and fake smiles. The people who I thought I could trust stood right by me but it didn't feel correct. Tubbo already 18, joined the royal army at his own will, in a sense he followed his friends, Karl, to protect the following boarders in certain parts of the large country. There were rumours about an up coming war, some doubted it but some highly believed in it, causing panic amongst the citizens. I frankly didn't believe it and only focused on my own path.

Following day I came back to the palace to be approached by the Emperor, " Greetings your highness," I bowed before raising my head, " Tom, I have a surprise for you." He said no expression on his face, he bacame unreadable day by day, his coughing got more constant. We went into his large office, inviting me to sit down I did as he went around the desk and carefully sat down. The chancellor stood by his side. My heart raced, this was it wasn't it? He's finally getting rid of me. I braced for those harsh words to escape his mouth.

" Tom." He began, clearing his throat.

" As you know, I have no empress and therefore, no heir to the country." My brows frowned a bit, what was he getting at? I nodded to his statements, " I, Emperor Dre, would like you Tom, to become the crown prince of this empire and inherit the Dezmond name." Feeling my heart drop, I was speechless to his proposal... it got me thinking, was this why he took me in? Mentions of magic, potential, power. I'm just a pawn in everyone's books aren't I? They see a sick weakling like me and instantly take advantage of it.

I sat there in silence for a moment, " I'm sorry for this suddenly, it was not my intention to make you a prince. But I see you as a great candidate of being a leader to this country." He chocked on his words, frankly it would make sense, a dying emperor with no heir needing a youngster like me in his books. " Who suggested it?" My voice went cold as my narrowed eyes shot right to the chancellor, " I did." George admitted, " With the way you handle situations and yourself proves your ability to lead, don't take this in any negative way. Take this opportunity." He lowered his head.

Opportunity, what is an opportunity exactly? Is it a situation that betters me and harms others? Or vice versa. Or a situation that benefits everyone not just one individual.

Thinking long and hard about it on the spot, I opened my mouth to answer. " I accept." I saw both of their faces instantly light up, causing a fuzzy feeling to form inside me. " Thank you so much Tom, I'm sure you won't regret this. We will have a blessing ceremony within a few days." He started getting up before stopping him, " Sir-" He looked up, " Yes?" I took a deep breath, " I- I thought only people from Dezmond were able to become the crown of the country." He shook his head, " There are instances were people not of origin to Dezmond become the heir, this therefore changes their bloodline... would you mind?" I looked down, would I mind changing my whole nationality, frankly probably not. I shook my head as he smiled once more, " Good. I will need to introduce you to the nation as a new prince before the ceremony. George will escort you to the tailors." He seemed happy, the bounce and chirp in his dying tone proved that it was the rigth answer to make. Maybe I won't regret this as much as I thought I would?

Following the chancellor, my height reached his nose almost, I was quite tall for a 14 year old, I wonder how their clothes are gonna look on me? Emperor Dre looked regal, uniforms designed in different patterns with golden boarders, and the long dark green cape attached to his outfit like it always did. Part of me felt excited to wear something so regal, something that resembled importance, out of all the birthday presents I recieved, this one was the weirdest but greatest.

We entered the room as the tailor looked over at us, bowing to the chancellor as George said, " His majesty has assigned Tom to be the prince of the Empire." He announced, the atmosphere of the room leaped in change, from a gloomy atmosphere to glee.

"Finally! An heir!" One of trh butlers exclaimed as the maids hurried me in, " We welcome the future sun of the Empire." They bowed as they started taking my measurements, I flinched slightly as I looked over at George, mouthing 'what is happening' he snickered as he waved to me before leaving he said " Oh we need the outfit done in 2 hours." They all murmured in agreement before getting to work.

" Emperor Dre must've taken a huge liking to you! He's a very picky person." One brunette maid explained, part of me enjoyed the attention from others, not being tossed aside was good feeling. " Yea, his highness refused an empress several times but in the end it turned out for the better than we expected, a bright gentleman like you will do wonders to this country!" Their excitement filled my chest, " Ah thank you so much for your kind words." I replied as they got me ready.

after taking my measurements, they asked me to come back in a few minutes agreeing I walked through the halls. Who knew I would be a prince? It felt awfully strange. Suddenly, I saw my auntie along with uncle and tubbo, " Tom!" They exclaimed in unison, hugging me at once, " ahaha what are you lot doing here?" I asked awkwardly, hanging on tight to my arm.