The Ugly Princess
Once upon a time there was an ugly princess.
In truth, she wasn't really ugly; she had a slightly large nose and very freckly skin, but she had a lovely smile and lots of well-brushed golden-brown hair. The problem was that she had an older sister who was gorgeous, clever, and, to top it off, extremely kind, modest and caring.
Our princess had a rather acerbic tongue and was not as trusting as her sister. This really wasn't her fault; no one had ever been mean to the beautiful princess because she was so adorable. Our princess, on the other hand, was more likely to be called intimidating than adorable, so people paid her compliments they didn't mean. Hence she had learned not to trust them.
There came a day when the princesses' father became ill, and the older princess was left with the job of running the kingdom while he lay in his bed, surrounded by doctors. Within weeks, the older princess had greatly reduced poverty in their realm, started to educate the peasants and become even more adored by the populace.
Our princess knew that her sister was a lovely person and tried not to be jealous, but it was difficult. She did not tell anyone this and spent her time helping her sister with the finances and reminding her to eat and sleep.
And then the king died. Both the princesses were devastated, for their mother had died when the younger was just two years old and he had been their only parent for a long time. For many months they were both so grief-stricken they could not find pleasure in anything. The older princess threw herself into running the kingdom and making her subjects happy. Our princess went for long rides. In time, she came to know one of the guards who accompanied her. He comforted her when she wept for her father and in time the princess fell in love with him.
However, as most of the guards seemed to be in love with her wise and beautiful sister, she felt too shy to tell him so. They stayed friends for a year and a day, from the moment he first held her as she cried, until the guard confessed his love for the princess while they were out riding.
As neither could be bothered to go back to the castle and tell everyone first, they kept riding until they found a church and were married there. They had to go back that evening for dinner, however, so they returned and spent the rest of their lives helping her sister, riding and living happily ever after.