Maximus was born into a world built on gold.
The royal estate of House stretched across the hills like something out of a painting—towering pillars, velvet halls, chandeliers that caught sunlight like captured stars.
Servants bowed when he passed; tutors lined up to teach him languages, history, etiquette, all before he could even write his own name.
He grew up surrounded by everything anyone could ever want.
But even a perfect world can feel empty until something fills it.
Max was seven the day his life changed.
He sat beside his mother in a VIP box at FNB Stadium. It was his first live football match—Kai Chiefs versus OR Pirates it was the Soweto Derby
. His mother had brought him only because "a prince should experience everything his people love."
His feet barely touched the ground. The crowd's roar thundered through the air, shaking the seats.
Yellow and black flags flashed everywhere, but Max wasn't impressed. Not yet.
Then it happened.
Moepi Gauta—the legend, the unstoppable forward of Kai Chiefs—broke through the defense.
A long cross bent perfectly across the box. Moepi didn't let it touch the ground.
He twisted mid-air, body stretched like a bow, and struck a perfect volley.
The ball curved past the keeper and slammed into the net.
The stadium exploded.
But Max didn't hear the noise.
He didn't hear the commentators.
He didn't even hear his mother calling his name.
His world slowed to a single spark.
His eyes widened, catching the stadium lights. It was as if his soul had awakened for the very first time.
"Mom," he whispered, gripping her sleeve tightly, "I want to play football."
She blinked, surprised… then smiled gently.
And from that day, the prince's path was sealed.
---
Max grew up with trainers, private coaches, analysts—his family spared no expense. But he didn't become good because of wealth.
He became good because he worked.
Every morning he ran drills in the palace courtyard.
Every evening he stayed on the pitch long after coaches went home, repeating touches until his legs trembled.
He watched Moepi Gauta highlights until he could mimic every move.
He rose through youth academies faster than anyone expected.
And by seventeen, he wore the badge of Poloko City U20.
People called him a prodigy.
Newspapers praised him as "The Royal Prodigy." Fans chanted his name.
Scouts whispered that he was only a season away from debuting professionally.
Max believed it too.
But he knew the truth deep inside.
It wasn't just talent.
It wasn't just destiny.
It wasn't just wealth.
It was all according to his parents' perfect design for him—every lesson, every expectation, every path gently pushed toward the spotlight.
And he was grateful.
Because he loved football.
Because he wanted to shine.
Because he thought the world would never take it away.
---
Then came "that day."
He remembered the silence after.
He remembered the look in his parents' eyes
—crushed, broken, as if the future they built had collapsed
He remembered the doctors, the meetings, the conversations that felt like the end of everything he had ever dreamed of.
To them, it was over.
To them, the prince had fallen.
But Max…
Max wasn't like them.
His dream didn't die.
It mutated.
It twisted into something sharper, brighter, more determined than before.
If he could not walk onto the pitch as a player, then he would change the pitch itself.
He would reshape football—Kasi Football —until it evolved beyond what anyone had ever imagined.
And this mutation…
was only the beginning.