Tale 75- The Kind-Hearted Princess

 Moving onto the next town, the Traveler encountered a puppet master playing with marionettes and putting on a show. Though her stomach turned slightly at the strings, she found herself entranced by the way they danced, as if made of light and air alone, the strings practically being invisible from afar. As the children laughed at the dance, the puppet master smiled and stepped into his little curtained room, putting down the puppets and instead decided to tell the crowd a tale, a story to enthral and delight. Intrigued, the Traveler opened her book and listened intently, sitting down alongside the steadily growing crowd and preparing to write the tale of ‘the Kind-Hearted Princess’

‘In a land far away, there was a magical pair of shoes created from the most rare of crystals, ones which allowed the wearer to dance more beautifully than anyone else in the world. In a nearby kingdom, a young princess had fallen in love with a handsome but distant prince. She wished to impress him, so she threw him a ball to celebrate his birthday, but had only one fault- she was unable to dance. In desperation, she sought out the shoes and practiced for hours upon hours per day, eventually being able to do the steps as other princesses would, though with the flaw that she looked stiff and nervous whilst doing so. Despite this, the day of the ball finally arrived and she danced with her prince, trying to appear natural and keep up the appearance of a dainty and delicate princess, but at the detriment that her nervousness and acting made her personality much more difficult for the prince to find. As they danced, the prince became less and less fooled, lamenting he preferred her as she was before, and that there was no need to change her nature just to impress him. The princess admitted she wasn’t sure if she’d be loved with all her flaws, but the prince replied that he loved her even more because of her flaws, explaining he loved how kind her heart was and that it outshone anyone he’d ever met in his life. The two fell in love and got married soon after, joining their kingdoms and ruling with kindness and love for their subjects.’

The puppet master finished speaking, resuming the puppet dance for the children, and the Traveler wandered off to do the illustrating. The princess reminded her a little of Sarafelle, as she tried to keep up appearances and acted as best as she could, yet underneath her happy facade there were secrets and fears, but also the warmest of hearts. The Traveler departed the town, ready to search for the remaining 24 tales.

Elsewhere, several sounds permeated the cold air. The frightened clatter of a bowl. The furious slam of a door. The malicious click of keys. A crow calling thrice. “...Your majesty…?”

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