The palace balcony overlooked all of Polokwane, glowing under the late sunset.
Max stood alone, the warm orange light brushing against his pink hair — a color that marked him as royalty, a symbol of a legacy he no longer felt worthy of carrying.
Pink strands drifted into the wind.
A forgotten memory… a childhood dream.
It hadn't died — no.
Its essence had simply become clearer.
When Max finally looked into the mirror, white hair stared back.
Cold.
Clear.
Quiet.
Not the color of defeat —
but the color of resolve.
Max stepped into the empty royal training hall.
Only one other person was there: Ray. His old teammate. His closest friend.
The only person who didn't treat him like a prince, but like a player.
Ray blinked when he saw the white hair.
I couldn't help it — the words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.
"Max… what happened to your—"
He cut me off with only two words.
Soft. Controlled.
"I need to talk."
So we sat on the polished training hall floor, like we used to back in the U20 days.
No prince. No genius. No hierarchy.
Just Max… and me.
Then he spoke, and I listened.
"Kasi Flava…"
Even the name felt like a heartbeat.
He explained it exactly the way only Max could:
Creativity from the streets. Rhythm born from joy.
Skill shaped from instinct, swagger, and pure emotion.
Not taught — felt.
Yet the world labeled it "flair," nothing more.
And he wanted to change that.
He wanted South Africa on the world stage.
He wanted Kasi Flava to evolve into something feared, studied, respected.
He wanted a football identity strong enough to stand with the giants.
And then he looked straight at me — through me.
"That's my dream… What do you think, Ray?"
What did I think?
He didn't know what he had just unlocked inside me.
So I let the truth come, quietly, honestly, in the place where everything began — inside my own mind.
I was alone once, I told myself. A nameless kid on the streets of Polokwane.
No guidance.
No purpose.
No reason to wake up most days.
For sometime a found meaning in math it kept me alive all those days in primary where I used to wake up and walk to school.
They were all exciting.
Math kept me alive.
But then I solved it I will always remember that day as the day my childhood ended the day Math lost meaning in my life.
My fire burnt out.
Until I found a ball.
Football didn't save my life — it gave it meaning.
Every unexplained concept, every pattern ye to noticed, every improvement… I understood it instantly.
Logic, rhythm, momentum, positioning — the game was a puzzle that I had yet to completely solved.
And I was the one piece that fit everywhere.
I learned fast — faster than anyone at City Academy.
Not because I was gifted… but because I could explain everything I was a talented learner a prodigy unlike any other.
Every movement.
Every mistake.
Every success.
It kept me alive
Though in my heart I knew once I solved football my life would lose meaning
But then—
I met Max.
A genius who broke logic.
A player who bent the game in ways a variable I didn't comprehend no matter how hard I tried.
He wasn't chaos.
He was freedom.
And that freedom lit something inside me that I had never felt before.
A spark.
A warmth.
Something bright.
Something alive.
Fire.
The word escaped my mouth before I realized it.
"Life without that fire…" I whispered to myself, barely audible, "is no life at all."
Max leaned closer.
"What did you say?"
Only then did I realize I had spoken aloud.
Max the royal prince born rosy, snow white devoid of warmth but not purpose.
"Ill do whatever it takes to keep my fire alive even if it means helping you achieve your dream then I'll chase it to the end."
At that moment Ray's eyes lit up with blue flame.
Max lifted his white-haired head and declared:
"So it begins… Project Kode Red."
A name that would shake a continent.
"With every penny owned by the royal family, with every ounce of talent we can gather… we will build a new era."
Ray smirked — the kind that promised trouble, change, and greatness.
"Kasi Flava," Max said, voice steady and sharp,
"will take the world stage."
And for the first time since the incident, his rosy-pink eyes burned with color again.