AN: A mixture of fairy tales with one original one, based off of a conversation on tumblr. Welcome to the prologue. Yes, every chapter will be short.
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"Attention, all fair maidens of Romance Kingdom!" A herald wearing clothes spun of the finest thread called from the village square. "The just King Nozaki shall be holding a birthday celebration for his oldest child, Umetarou, who will be turning 18 in two weeks. For this momentous and joyous occasion, our king has proclaimed that all the ladies of the kingdom are to attend."
The crowd that had formed around the herald murmured. All the ladies? But there were some who could barely even afford the clothes on their own back, much less a fancy ball gown!
The messenger sensed the unease within the minds of the crowd. "Fear not, dear people. The king has offered dresses to all maidens who wish to attend and cannot afford one of their own. These are generously paid for by the Prince Yu- ahem, Princess Yuu of our neighboring kingdom, who will also be in attendance."
The girls in the crowd cheered, and whooped, and applauded. Not only for the generosity of the neighboring princess, but for her declared attendance as well. There were none in the kingdom who had not even heard of the charm of Princess Yuu, the legendary lady who could make every girl swoon with her easy manners and flirtation.
After the herald had finished handing out the ornate invitations, a petite girl with bright orange hair smiled widely. She was not so excited for the news of Princess Yuu as she was for the prospect of even attending a royal ball in the first place. Having grown up her whole life in poverty, despite having assistance offered to her by her dear friend, the Duchess Yuzuki, the girl, Chiyo Sakura, was not used to such luxuries. Despite her difficult life, she was grateful for it, for her toil had made her strong, and compassionate to the trials of others.
Chiyo was a beautiful girl, one who the whole village knew to be thoughtful and kind, if a bit, well, out of it. The fact that she was best friends with the near legendary flirt and playboy vigilante Mikoto Mikoshiba certainly helped her become popular enough. Even though she, herself, never really understood why everybody thought Mikorin, as she thought of him, was so suave. They didn't know him very well, but Chiyo knew him better than anybody else. So she also knew the way he would collapse in on himself after saying anything even remotely flirtatious. She tried to convince him to stop doing it in the first place, but old habits are hard to break, she supposed.
Smiling widely, she headed back to her small home, a shack that looked to be on the brink of collapse. Despite its unsturdy appearance, Chiyo knew it would hold together a bit longer. At least, she hoped it would.
"Mikorin! Are you home yet?"
After hearing no response, Chiyo set down her invitation on the makeshift table, and left the house, entering the woods to find some dinner for her and her roommate, her signature double bows blowing lazily in the wind.