Once upon a time, in the Kingdom of Nemesis, there lived an empress by the name of Green Esmeraude, or Emerald as she was more commonly known. Now, Emerald was an exceedingly vain woman, who had only two interests in life. One was winning the heart of Prince Demand, more commonly known as Diamond, the prince of the kingdom which neighboured hers. But all of her attempts to flirt with him came to naught, as he scarcely acknowledged her existance (not that she let that stop her, of course).
Emerald's second interest in life was much more attainable: clothes. She had outfits made of all sorts of fabrics: silk, velvet, linen, cotton, wool, satin, lace, velour, and in all sorts of colours: red, yellow, pink, green, purple, orange, blue, turquoise, lilac, black...in fact, she had a different outfit for every hour of every day. She would spend all her money on them, and cared little for the theatre, or for the fair, or anything like that, unless it gave her the chance to show off her newest outfit. In fact, where one might say of any other queen or empress "She is in council", the people of Nemesis would say "Emerald is in her dressing room."
Life was very good in Nemesis, with many people coming from all over to visit, and among them one day came four sisters, by the names of Koan, Berthier, Calaveras and Petz, collectively known as the Ayakashi Sisters. They claimed to be weavers, and that they knew how to weave the most amazing fabric in the world. When Emerald heard of this, she ordered the four sisters to be brought to her. In the throneroom, she demanded that they tell her more about this wonderful cloth they could allegedly weave.
"Well, Your Highness," said Koan, "the fabric is all the colours of the rainbow."
"And the patterns are unusually fine." said Berthier. "Truly, does it not sound like the most wonderful fabric in all the land?"
Emerald was not impressed. "I have outfits with fine patterns, and outfits that are rainbow-coloured. What is so special about this fabric that makes it stands out from all others that I have seen? I have better things to do than listen to this." She clicked her fingers, and several guards appeared. "Escourt these ladies from the palace, and ensure that they do not return."
"Wait, Your Majesty," said Calaveras, "you have not heard the most incredible thing about this fabric of ours."
Intrigued, Emerald held up her hand to stop the guards from approaching the sisters. "Which is?"
"The fabric is completely invisible to anyone who is stupid or unfit to hold his position, Your Regalness." said Petz. "I must ask, now that you have heard about our fabric, will you accept our service as Royal Weavers?"
Emerald thought for a moment. If she had an outfit made from such wonderful fabric, she could easily tell which people in her kingdoms were unworthy of their positions, and she could tell the wise from the fools. And perhaps Diamond would finally notice her...
"Very well." she said. "You may begin at once." And she gave the sisters a large sum of money in advance.
As soon as the four sisters had left the throne room, Koan turned to her sisters. "Is this such a good idea, sisters? If she finds out that we have deceived her, she is going to be furious. We could be imprisoned, or even executed."
"Do not worry, my sister." said Petz. "Remember, now, that we have told her that the fabric is invisible to the stupid. And nobody likes to admit they are stupid."
In a room of the palace, the sisters set up two looms and pretended to weave, although in truth there was nothing on the looms. At the outset, they asked for the finest silk and the purest gold thread, which they put into their bags. Then they pretended to work far into the night.
One day, Emerald decided that she would like to see how the cloth was coming along, but she felt uneasy when she remembered that it was invisible to anyone who was stupid or unfit for their position. Of course, she had no reason to fear herself, but even so, she would send someone else to look first.
"I shall send Crimson Rubeus to the sisters." she thought. "After all, he is very sensible, and no-one is more fit for his position than he."
So Rubeus was sent into the room where the four sisters sat at the empty looms.
"Goodness!" he thought to himself. "I cannot see a thing!" But he did not say so.
"Will you step a little closer, sir?" asked Berthier with a silky smile. "Is the pattern not most excellent, are the colours not most beautiful?" And she gestured towards the empty looms.
Well, try as he might, Rubeus could not see a thing, for there was nothing to see. "Heavens," he thought to himself. "Is it possible that I am a fool? Should I tell the empress? No, for if she thought I was a fool, I would surely lose my position. I cannot let anyone know."
"Well, sir, you do not say anything." said Calaveras.
"Oh, it is beautiful, magnificent, wonderful!" declared Rubeus. "I shall tell the empress that it satisfies me very much."
"We are very glad to hear that." said Petz. And she proceeded to describe the pattern and colours, while Rubeus listened carefully so that he might report back to the empress.
Now the sisters asked for more money, more silk and more gold thread, all off which they put into their bags. Then they continued to work as before on the empty looms.
As time went on, Emerald sent more officials to report on the process of the cloth. Each time, the officials were startled when they saw nothing upon the looms, but they did not say so, instead reporting that it was coming along magnificently.
Finally, Emerald decided that she would like to see the cloth herself whilst they were still on the loom. So, accompanied by all her officials, she went to visit the sisters, who were working as hard as ever at the empty loom.
"Is it not a most wonderful sight, Your Excellency?" asked one official.
"See the colours. Feel its silkiness." said another.
Of course, Emerald could not see anything. "What is this?" she thought to herself. "Am I unworthy to be empress? This is terrible! If anyone were to discover this, there would surely be uprisings! I would be forced to give up my throne! And what if Diamond were to find out? He would never wish to associate with a fool!"
"Does the cloth please Your Highness?" asked Koan.
"Oh, it is magnificent." said Emerald quickly. "I have never seen such a beautiful outfit. It has my highest regard."
The whole suite gazed upon the looms, but they could see nothing. However, they all agreed that the cloth was beautiful, and advised Emerald to have it made into clothes so that she might wear it in the grand procession, which was soon to take place.
The sisters sat up all the night before the procession was to take place. They burnt 16 candles so that everyone could see how anxious they were to get the new clothes ready. They pretended to take them off the loom, and cut them with scissors, and then stitched away with needles without any thread in them.
At last they said, ''Now the new clothes are ready.''
Emerald, with her grandest courtiers, entered the room. The sisters stood in front of her in turn, each holding up their arms as though they held something.
"This is the dress." said Koan.
"This is the cloak." said Berthier.
"This is the petticoat." said Calaveras.
"And this is the veil." said Petz. "The fabric is as light as spider's thread, and it will feel as though you are wearing nothing, but that is the beauty of these clothes."
''Yes, yes,'' Said all the courtiers, but they could not see anything, for there was nothing to see.
"Would it please Your Highness to remove your clothes so that we may outfit you with the new ones?" asked Berthier.
So Emerald stripped to her underwear (reasoning that if fools could not see the fabric, she did not wish them to see her naked) and pretended to dress in the articles of clothing the sisters pretended to hand to her. They pretend to tie the cloak around her body, then stood her in front of the mirror.
"Do the sleeves fit alright?" asked Calaveras. "Is it tight in the middle?"
"Yes, they fit. And no, it is not tight." said Emerald, pretending to admire herself in the mirror.
''The canopy is waiting outside which is to be carried over Your Majesty in the procession.'' said the Master of Ceremonies.
''I am quite ready,'' said Emerald. ''Do I not look magnificent?'' Then she turned round again in front of the mirror, so that she should seem to be looking at her grand clothes.
The two handmaidens who were to carry the cloak pretended to lift it from the ground with both hands, and they walked along with their hands in the air. They dared not let it appear that they could not see anything.
Then Emerald walked along in the procession under the canopy, and everybody in the streets and at the windows exclaimed, ''How beautiful her new clothes are! What wonderful colours! And such a splendid pattern!" For they did not want it known that they could not see a thing.
At that moment, who should come riding up on his horse but Prince Diamond. He had seen the huge crowd and was curious as to what was going on.
"What is all this?" he asked a member of the crowd.
"The empress is showing off her new outfit." was the reply.
Diamond looked over at Emerald. "What outfit?" he asked. "The empress has no clothes on."
"Did you hear that?" one man asked his neighbour. "Prince Diamond says that the empress has no clothes on, and he is a very wise man. He must be telling the truth."
The neighbour told his neighbour, and his neighrbour told her neighbour, and so on until all of the crowd was repeating "The empress has no clothes on!"
Emerald heard this and was embarassed, as she knew it was the truth. But she could not turn back now. And at least Diamond had noticed her. So she continued to march under the canopy, while the handmaidens continued to hold the cloak which did not exist.
As for the Ayakashi Sisters, they left Nemesis with the money, silk and gold thread and were never seen again.
THE END