The Prince Without Flaws
Once upon a time, in a very distant land, there lived a princess. She lived in a grand castle and had many servants to attend to her. But the princess was not happy.
Because a wizard had fallen in love with her. The evil wizard wanted to possess the princess. He disguised himself as a giant cat and followed the princess everywhere.
Only a prince could break the curse. It was discovered that the prince had to step on the cat's tail, and thus, the princess would be freed.
Not far away, lived a handsome prince. He heard about the beautiful princess.
— This is terrible! The princess must be freed! Ministers! Do not announce my arrival to anyone. That will only alert the cat. I will step on its tail while the wizard is fast asleep.
And so it happened. As night fell, the giant cat fell asleep. The prince stepped on its tail and suddenly...
— How dare you? Leave the princess alone right now! I command you! — Ha ha! I will not free her! But who will free you? I curse your firstborn! He will be born with an enormous nose and will not become king unless he truly accepts this, for your kingdom shall only have a king without flaws. Ha ha ha!
“This curse makes no sense,” thought the prince. “My son will instantly realize he has an enormous nose. And a large nose is not a flaw. I shouldn't worry about it.”
That morning, the princess was the happiest woman in the world. The entire kingdom rejoiced, for the evil wizard was gone. The princess quickly married the prince.
The prince was so happy to have married the beautiful princess that he completely forgot about the curse. And he told no one about it.
Years passed, and the princess, who was now queen, gave birth to their first child. Prince Hyacinth was born while the king was away on business. But the happiness did not last long, for the queen did not survive.
The kingdom had not recovered from its loss when another piece of bad news arrived. The king's ship sank at sea. Prince Hyacinth was the sole heir to the throne. But something was not right with the prince.
— Oh, heavens! Is that a normal nose? Half of his face is covered. — Oh, don't say that! He is our future king! We must ensure we never mention his large nose. There must be no reason for our prince to feel ashamed. It is our duty to hide it and never let him feel it.
So the ministers and courtiers decided to hide the greatest flaw on the prince's face. Every picture of people with normal noses was removed from the castle. Every servant, butler, and caregiver was warned. No one was to mention the large nose. Everyone had to praise the prince and his enormous nose.
At school, they went so far as to alter history. They only showed warriors who had large noses. They all laughed at those who had normal noses. The ministers did everything in their power. They even asked some handsome men in the kingdom to wear artificial noses every time they entered the palace.
The prince grew up admiring and feeling proud of his large nose. The flaw was hidden.
— My mighty prince, the time has come for your coronation. But you know the rules very well. You will have to marry to truly inherit the throne. — I understand, Minister. I wanted to ask for the hand of King Besford's daughter. She is, indeed, the most beautiful princess. She has a small nose, but I have a big heart. I will accept her flaw.
