The Worthless Son

In the empire of Valerius, power is everything, and magic is its currency. The noble House of Vancour stands as a pillar of magical prowess, its name whispered with respect and fear on the battlefield. For them, strength is not just an asset; it is their identity. Kaelen Vancour is the antithesis of this identity. Born as the youngest son into this mighty family, he is a bewildering anomaly—completely magic-less. Where his siblings command fire, shadow, and storm, Kaelen commands nothing. Branded a cripple and a blight on their legacy, he is despised by his ruthless father, ignored by his complicit mother, and tormented by his arrogant older brothers. Tolerated only as a servant bearing his own name, Kaelen endures a life of constant humiliation and isolation within the gilded walls of his own home. His sole focus is survival and escape. With a determination that runs deeper than any magical wellspring, Kaelen secretly trains his body and mind, pursuing the only path left open to him: the mundane, grueling skill of a swordsman. He knows his family will never accept him, and his only hope is to become strong enough to leave and carve out a life of his own, far from the shadow of the family that considers him worthless. Unbeknownst to Kaelen, he has a silent, secret witness to his struggle: Elara, his eldest sister and the family's heir. A fire mage of exquisite control, Elara has always played the part of the perfect Vancour, perpetuating the narrative of their superiority. Yet, witnessing Kaelen's quiet dignity and unbreakable will in the face of relentless cruelty forces a crack in her unwavering facade. She is torn between the oppressive weight of her family's expectations and the dawning, horrifying realization that her magic-less brother possesses a strength of character her entire family lacks. Now, she must navigate a dangerous double life—upholding the family's perfect image by day, while secretly working from the shadows to ensure Kaelen has the tools he needs to survive and, perhaps, one day, defy them all. The Worthless Son is a story of two siblings trapped in a gilded cage of their own bloodline. It is a tale of one boy's relentless struggle to define his own worth in a world that denies it, and a sister's silent war between loyalty to her name and the awakening of her conscience. As external threats begin to loom over the Vancour estate, the family's greatest weakness may prove to be the son they cast aside, and their greatest strength, the heir who has begun to question everything she was raised to believe.