Once upon a time, there lived a mysterious prince. He was the cleverest man in all the kingdom, and he often used his incredible talents to help the good people of the land. He should have been revered and praised, but many in the kingdom were jealous of the prince's abilities. "Freak," they called him, and said his cleverness was strange and not to be trusted.
So the prince decided he would not allow himself to be hurt by their cruel remarks. One dark night, in the depths of his palace dungeon, he removed his heart and placed it in a small box. He locked it with as much protection as he possibly could and hid it in his bedroom, where nobody but he could enter. From that time onward, he was utterly emotionless. He could no longer feel the sting of his subjects' remarks, but he could also no longer feel love toward any person he met. This was truly a shame, for there were a few people in the kingdom that could see him for all that he was worth, and he could not see the hands of friendship extended toward him. He hid himself away in his castle and came out only when his cleverness was required for the kingdom's safety.
But one day a retired soldier came to the castle. He was unable to afford a room at the inn, so he requested permission to stay in the castle. The prince accepted, but still, he kept his heart locked away, and so he did not see the kindness shown to him by the soldier.
Yet the soldier had a special power to him neither he nor the prince knew about. When he saw the prince perform one of his clever skills, he could not help but remark on it. This did not affect the prince; he still could feel nothing toward anyone. But the words of praise did indeed do something. They mixed in the air and floated down the dark hallways of the castle toward the prince's bedroom. They flew in and, when there were enough appreciations there, something remarkable happened:
The first of the locks on the box where the prince's heart was kept opened.
