1 The Prince Wants To Resign

Earthland, Year X775.

Upon the horizon, rocky mountains and prominent hills surrounded a vast valley. Within this valley lies a circular formation of countless buildings, forming a large city. 

The entire city is enclosed by massive walls and the streets are adorned with limitless amounts of flowers. Flowerbeds and fluttering butterflies can be found everywhere, making this place look beautiful and lively. 

This city is none other than Crocus, the capital of the Kingdom of Fiore, which is also known as the Flower of Booming Capital. 

On an island situated in the center of Crocus Lake, there is a massive and tall castle that stands out as the most prominent feature. It towers over all the other buildings in the city. The castle is also known as Mercurius and is home to the royalty.

Somewhere inside the Mercurius, a silver-haired boy was sleeping soundly on a large and magnificent bed. His legs were half-kicking off the blanket. A maid entered the room and noticed the unsightly behavior, making her pout in annoyance. 

"Your Highness Zen, please wake up. It's already noon!" She bent her body and shouted at the silver-haired boy's right ear. 

Zen rubbed his eyes and stretched his body as he woke up. "Hi, Raffaela, good morning~"

"It's already noon, Your Highness," Raffaela corrected. 

Zen grinned and replied, "That's still morning for me~."

Raffaela rolled her eyes and reminded, "That's not how a prince is supposed to behave, Your Highness." 

Zen shrugged and declared, "But today is my day off as a prince. I plan to be lazy and do nothing."

Raffaela smiled and mentioned, "I thought you had an appointment with His Majesty today, Your Highness." 

Zen panicked and exclaimed, "Oh no! I almost forgot about it. That old man is always busy, and I can't miss this chance!"

With that, he immediately jumped out of bed and began to prepare for his appointment.

After fifteen minutes, he emerged from the room with a refreshed appearance.

He has medium-length silver hair, with bangs that extend past his eyebrows. A silver earring adorns his left ear, adding a unique charm to his appearance. 

He is dressed in formal attire befitting a prince, with the royal crest prominently displayed on his belongings, including his accessories and sword. Additionally, he wears gloves that cover the palm and middle finger of his left hand.

​

As Zen walks through the hallway, a burly blue creature wearing pajamas appears out of nowhere. It yawned and greeted him, "Good morning, Zen~"

"Heh, you woke up later than me, Genie," Zen replied.

Gennie asked, "Is it already noon?"

Zen laughed and said, "No, it's still morning~"

Genie is an entity that emerged from an ancient lamp Zen found in his backyard in his previous life. Gennie claimed that it could grant three wishes to anyone who awakened it from its slumber.

At that time, Zen didn't think too much and stated his first wish: "Reincarnate me to the World of Fairy Tail."

To his surprise, Genie instantly reincarnated him without any warning.

Thankfully, he succeeded in his reincarnation. He arrived in Earthland and became a prince of the Fiore Kingdom.

Becoming a prince from an ordinary person is a dream for many people. However, Zen, who had personally experienced it, knew how troublesome it was to be a prince. 

Initially, he felt fortunate to have been reincarnated as the prince of a great kingdom. Not only did he live a life full of luxury, but he was also served by numerous servants. As a member of royalty, he could obtain anything he desired.

Zen's second life was fulfilling until he turned five. From that age, he was made to study various subjects such as history, geography, mathematics, languages, politics, and the art of war. In addition, he was required to learn practical skills such as painting, music, etiquette, dancing, martial arts, and magic. 

The sheer volume of knowledge he was expected to gain kept him incredibly busy, with only breaks for eating and sleeping. Despite his busy schedule, he was not allowed even one day off per week.

As he grows older, he is required to attend various parties, meet influential figures, and look for marriage prospects. Even worse, he is expected to smile no matter how unhappy he feels.

Ten long years have passed since this torturous routine began, and now Zen is fifteen. He has grown tired of the lifestyle that has been forced upon him and yearns to be a regular person again. 

He wants to quit being a prince and live without the constant pressure to learn and perform.

For this reason, he has decided to meet his busy old man and hand over his resignation letter, though this is not the first time he has attempted to do so. Despite previous rejections, he remains determined to achieve his goal.

As they made their way, Genie asked Zen: "By the way, where are we going, Zen?"

Zen replied, "We are going to meet my old man. I am planning to resign today!"

Genie yawned and said, "You never give up, do you, Zen?"

"Give up? That's not in my dictionary, Genie," replied Zen with confidence.

"Well, good luck with that," said Genie as he swiftly spun around and magically transformed into his usual self. He was now only wearing a red accessory around his ghost-like waist and golden accessories on his wrists.

Genie suddenly remembered something and said, "Ah, by the way, Zen. I have something important to inform you." 

Zen raised his eyebrows and teased, "What is it? Did you finally get yourself a female ghost?" 

"Who cares about a female ghost?! However, if it's a handsome male ghost... hehe," Genie replied with a mischievous expression.

Zen was momentarily speechless at Genie's ever-changing expressions.

"So, what do you want to tell me?"

"Mmmh, I forgot~"

"..."

Upon arriving at the heavily guarded Royal Office, Zen was greeted by two guards with a slight bow, indicating their recognition of his identity. They allowed him to approach the door.

Zen knocked on the door and called out, "Old Man, are you there?"

"Come in!"

After a while, a dignified voice responded from inside the room. 

"What took you so long to answer my call, Old Man?" 

Zen complained as he intruded the room. But his words trailed off as he noticed two other figures in the room besides his father. 

One was a short middle-aged man wearing a square hat on his head - Darton Ducario, the Minister of Defense. 

The other was a blue-vested man with brown, short hair and light green eyes - Gallahan Lombardi, the Minister of Finance.

Zen recognized both of them.

They are two powerful figures in Fiore's political field, though not in the magic field.

Despite not being the largest country in Ishgar, the Kingdom of Fiore was considered the most prosperous by many countries, except for the Pergrande Kingdom. The Ducario Family and Lombardy Family were major contributors to this prosperity.

Darton and Gallahan are the current heads of their respective families, and they are frequent visitors of Mercurius. As its resident, Zen has naturally crossed paths with them on several occasions.

"I see that Sir Dardon and Sir Gallahan are also present. In that case, I won't keep you, Father. Farewell~"

Zen sheepishly scratched his head and turned around to leave, but before he could, a stern voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Halt! Why do you think I allowed you to enter this room?" demanded the short, middle-aged man with silver hair and a golden crown, seated behind a table.

It was none other than Zen's father, Toma E. Fiore, the King of the Fiore Kingdom. Compared to how he appeared in the anime, he appears younger here.

Zen put on a fake smile and said, "I wonder... perhaps you just want to see your son's face. I mean, we haven't met for around a month. Now you already see me in peace, it's time for me to leave-"

Toma stared at Zen and said, "I assume you're here to hand in your nonsense resignation letter again, right? If that's the case, you'll have to wait and listen to our discussion. Maybe I'll consider your proposal this time."

"Ugh," 

Feeling exposed and unable to refute, Zen had no choice but to obey the order. He found a couch to sit on and carefully observed Darton and Gallahan.

Zen is unwilling to stay here due to the presence of two individuals who are widely known as old enemies. Whenever they gather in one place, they immediately engage in arguments and disputes. 

The fact that they were discussing a problem peacefully made Zen realize how serious the matter was. He didn't want to get involved in their issues and hence preferred to leave immediately.

As Zen quietly listened to their conversation, he finally knew what issues the state was facing. The most pressing concern was the report from the Western Army, which stated that there was a rebellion in Sakuramori. The report also suspected the involvement of a dark guild in this case. They hoped the government would send powerful aid to suppress the rebellion.

The rebellion would have been easy to quell if it was just a regular one. But with a magic guild involved, it was a different story. Sending an army would be futile, as they would just be sending cannon fodder to their deaths.

The magic guild was made up of professional wizards, and it was a dark guild. These wizards had no morals and were willing to do whatever it took to achieve their goals. 

The kingdom army, on the other hand, only consisted of ordinary soldiers armed with armor and swords. Even though they were well trained, they stood no chance against the wizards who could blast them off from a distance.

Each kingdom's troops were led by a high-ranking knight, but they were still outnumbered by the wizard troops of the guild. The kingdom had no choice but to dispatch some idle knights.

Knights are elite military warriors whose job is to protect their kingdom's people and their sovereign ruler. They hold different responsibilities, such as guarding territory, leading an army, or protecting influential individuals. Due to their importance, they cannot be easily deployed.

Currently, only two knights are idle in the capital, and they happen to be Zen's close aides.

But who is Zen?

He is Zen E. Fiore, the prince of this kingdom. Even the parliament cannot utilize the prince's personal knights without his permission. 

For this reason, Toma allowed Zen to enter the Royal Office and overhear the discussion he was having with the two royal ministers.