The Lovesick Prince
Once upon a time, there was a young Prince, who found himself in the unfortunate situation, of being extremely lovesick. He had been in love with a fair maiden for a long time and had finally mustered up his courage to court her at the next ball they attended, only to discover that she had become engaged to another in that time.
He was distraught. He had no choice but to long after her from a distance, as he was a man of honour, who wouldn't even let himself entertain thoughts of sweeping her off her feet and stealing her away from the other man. He loved her too dearly to try to take her happiness from her.
Thus he was left, for a long time, lonely in his lands, ignoring the advances of every other eligible maiden and her pushy mother, ignoring the issue of his needing to marry and produce an heir whilst he huddled away in the towers of his castle, trying to heal by himself his greatly wounded heart in his castle, with his beloved now married.
After a time, he held a grand ball, inviting all the young ladies in the land to attend, along with many of his friends, who were very anxious of his health. He believed himself cured.
However, when amidst young ladies he was trying to be interested in, he saw the lady he had loved, now wed, his heart flew to his mouth, and he realised with a heavy heart, that he couldn't forget her. No woman there compared to her wit, her beauty, her smile. He was still as besotted with her as he had been the first time he realised he loved her.
Unable to compose himself, he locked himself away again, and spent the rest of the night attempting to ignore the revelry going on below him.
...
It was the Prince's dearest friend, who approached him with a plan as to how to help heal his heart.
"There is a famed Witch, near these lands, who is said to be able to solve any problem." He told the prince.
"I'm sure she will be able to fix your heart."
The Prince was incensed.
"No one can help me!" he insisted. "My heart is broken forever- She has broken it, and only she could fix it, but she is married now, and I am too late. I hesitated, and lost my chance!"
His friend left dejected that he had been of no use.
However, the seed of thought had been planted in the Prince's mind, and it was not long until he approached his friend with apologies, and a tentative question as to where the Witch lived.
His friend, delighted, told him the rumours he had heard right away, that she apparently lived in the old Mansion in the woods.
The Prince set off to the Mansion right away.
...
The Witch was waiting for him.
He introduced himself, "Madam Witch, I am Prince Roxas. I have come to you on a matter of great importance." The Witch, seated at her white table, in the all-white room, in her pretty white dress, sat and listened as he described his tale of woe.
When he had finished, she said in her clear voice, "So you wish to forget her?"
"Forget her?" He said. "She is not only the love of my life, but a dear friend. How could I forget her- or ant to?"
"Is that not your problem, Prince?" she asked. "You cannot let her go, and your memories of her haunt you with what you could have had. You must forget all about her, if you want to move on."
The Prince was flabbergasted.
The Witch simply sighed, and said to him, "Go and think it over Prince. But I promise you- you won't let yourself forget her, so you cannot. You must choose."
And so he departed, very puzzled.
...
The next day he returned, his mind now set. He would try the Witch's plan- even if just to prove her wrong.
The Witch was waiting for him again.
"Ready?" she asked. He nodded.
She opened her sketchbook, and bade him to come sit beside her. She picked up a paintbrush, and asked him to describe the first time he had met his beloved. Blushing, he spoke. Amazingly, she began to paint the scene of when he first saw her, with perfect clarity as if she too had been there beside him, including details he had not mentioned, and discovered, to a feeling of dismay that he was finding it harder and harder to recall the scene.
"Madam Witch, how do you do that?" He was amazed, and moved closer for a better look. She explained that the spell was woven into the pages. As she painted, more and more of his memories of his beloved were disappearing.
And so this happened each time he went to visit her. He forgot his beloved more and more, but found, that he very much wished to spend more time with the Witch. It was only with her prompting that he would remember to speak of his former beloved. He was entranced with her, and it was much to his sadness, that after long he had almost no memories left of his former love to tell her, as the painting was almost complete. He tried everything to lengthen their time together, but soon it was too late. The painting was complete, and he no longer recognised it as his own memory.
"It is complete," she said one day with satisfaction. The Prince stood up, not sure why he had originally come there. All he knew was that he loved this dear lady in front of him. He fell to his knees in front of her, and declared his ardent love for her. But no matter how much he told her, she would not believe him.
He went away, determined to woo her.
And so it was thus that he began to woo the lovely Witch, despite the anger of his parents, the King and Queen. He brought her flowers, and clothes, fabulous jewellery, wonderful artwork and music and offered her invitations to many balls and events he had been invited to. Yet she refused his advances, gave away the presents he gave her. It was the talk of the land, as his efforts did not stop, not matter how many times she refused him. She grew sad, as she didn't believe his love true, for the Witch had fallen for the handsome Prince, but she knew she could never be with him as his real love had been lost. She believed he was simply confused. In a fit of anger, she returned his memories to him, destroying the painting they had created together.
She believed he would return to his former love, and would stop pursuing her, someone of inferior social standing. No matter how much he believed he loved her, she was a commoner, and a witch to boot. He could never love a Witch.
And with a pained heart, she began to pack up her belongings, to set off, for a distant land.
The Prince, with his memories restored, found the final proof he needed to persuade her of his love. He found that the memories of his former love were diminished- it was the memories of his beloved madam Witch that made his heart beat fast, and he knew he truly loved her.
He frantically chased after her, finding her mansion empty. He did not want to lose her, and lose his chance at love again. But again, she refused him.
"It's not right." She told him. "You are a Prince, and I am nothing but a Witch."
He protested, telling her that he loved her, would do anything for her. But she would not change her mind. He was distraught. He did not know what to do.
"I was meant to help fix your heart. But instead, I have done more damage." She said.
The Prince took her hands in his, and kissed them.
"No," he said. "My heart is fixed- for my heart is yours. And I will wait for you to come back to me, no matter how long it takes."
And so they departed, never to meet again in their lifetime.
But the Prince was correct on two counts.
Firstly, that his heart had indeed been healed by the Witch- for only love can heal what it has harmed.
And also, that they would meet again.
It would not be for many years, until a young man would look across a busy room and meet the gaze of a pretty young woman that he knew, somehow, that he had met before, but he had no memory of where, when he would be called Roxas, and she would be named Naminé
I'll be very honest- I didn't ever expect to post this up, but I'm now determined to at least finish all the stories I began posting here. I hope you enjoy this little story- it's one of two short stories that I wrote that inspired No Fairytale- this one here is the fairy tale from it.
Thank you all so much for the support I received during my absence- it has been those reviews, messages from people who have followed my work along the way and the new readers continuing to follow my work that has inspired me to finish what I began here.
Thank you
-Kairi_Naminé_ Chan xo