The Impatient Queen
Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, King Trevor lived with his beloved queen, Helia. Trevor was greatly loved throughout the kingdom, for he was kind and wise.
But his queen was scorned, for she was very impatient.
— It's taking too long to braid my hair! — I'm sorry, Your Highness, but this hairstyle is a difficult one. — How dare you talk back to the queen? Leave the palace at once! — Oh, Helia, why did you do that? She was working hard. — She doesn't move fast enough. — You must have patience, my love.
Sometimes the queen's impatient nature destroyed the peace in the palace, and the poor king struggled to fix things.
— Helia, you shouldn't have spoken that way to the ministers. — They spoke too slowly. They need to speak faster. — If they spoke faster, I wouldn't understand them. Look, I've brought you something you like. — Lilies! My favorites!
A New Princess
King Trevor wondered how to make his wife more patient. One day, he was wandering deep in thought about Helia.
— I can't understand it. Before we married, she was much sweeter and kinder. Yes, she was impatient then too, but now she's becoming meaner and meaner. It seems she changed as soon as she became queen. — Hm? What's this? — A baby! Where did you come from? Oh, you poor thing, let's take you home. — Really? Where's Trevor? He's been gone for ages. — It's only been ten minutes. — What? Did you just answer me? — Helia, look, I found a baby floating on the river. — A baby? But how? A note? — If you find my baby, please take care of her.
The couple was puzzled. But the king adored the little girl, and so they decided to raise her at the palace.
— Your name shall be Lian.
Lian was a good and loving child. Over the years, she grew into a very beautiful young woman.
The Legendary Crown
— Oh, dear, are you alright? — Yes, thank you, Your Highness. — How kind she is! Don't you think she should wear the legendary crown? — If the queen hears you, she'll throw us in the dungeon. — Enough gossip, get to work, you fool!
Indeed, in the palace there was a special crown. It was known that if the right person wore the crown, it would glow and grant magical powers to that person. But it hadn't glowed in years. The queen was upset about this.
One day, Lian began wandering throughout the entire palace. She came upon a forbidden tower.
— Wow! What a vast place! Uh! What's this enormous door?
She pushed the mysterious door as hard as she could.
— Oh! That was heavy! Huh? Why is there a crown here?
She looked carefully and moved closer, and the crown suddenly began to glow. She was very amazed but too scared to touch it.
— I'd better tell my parents. Father, Mother! I've come from the forbidden tower. — Lian, I told you never to go there! — But there's a crown there that glows! — It glows?
Lian told them what had happened.
— It glowed, and I'm happy for you! — No, I don't understand. — I'll tell you when you're older.
The Wicked Witch
While the king rejoiced, the queen was annoyed. That night, she snuck out of the palace and went to a witch she knew.
— My lady? — I know why you've come. Because the crown glowed, right? — What should I do? — Stay calm, dear. I've prepared a ring for you to put on your husband's finger. The magic in it will make him hate and destroy everything that comes from her.
Helia nodded and left the palace. The next day, she went to her husband and placed the ring on his finger.
— Oh, what a lovely thing! — A small gift from me. — Father, Mother!
King Trevor looked at Lian and flinched. The magic was already working, and her voice annoyed him greatly.
— Lian, speak more quietly! — Oh! I'm sorry. I wanted you to try this cake I made. — It's very salty. How could you give me something like this? — What? No! It tastes sweet to me. — She's lying too!
The magic in the ring made the sweet cake taste different. In the same way, it ruined everything Lian gave the king and made him hate Lian even more.
Over time, Lian saw that she was ignored by the queen and hated by the king. After a while, she began to feel alone in the palace.
— Maybe they have problems in the kingdom. I won't bother them until they feel better.
The Queen's Patience
One day, she visited the room where the legendary crown was kept.
— It's a very pretty crown. I wonder how it looks on me. Wow! It's very... Huh? What's happening? — Only one who deserves me can wear me. — Who? Who are you? — I am the legendary crown that answers anything you wish to know. — Oh! Well then, I want to know something. Why have my parents been acting so strangely lately?
And the crown told Lian everything about the magic ring and about her mother.
— So Father doesn't hate me. It's just a spell. But does my mother want the crown? — No, it's not your mother who wants the crown, but the witch. Your mother is impatient, but she's still a kind and wonderful lady.
The crown told Lian that the wicked witch had used the queen's weakness. Thus, Helia had been under the witch's spell all this time.
— The witch wants to rule the kingdom through my powers. But they are too powerful for her. So she wants to control me through Helia. — But how do we break the spell? — The queen must break it herself, by learning to be patient.
Lian thought for a moment and suddenly had an idea.
— Mother loves lilies. Maybe if she learns to grow them and be patient with them, the spell will break. But how would she get them? — Ask and you shall receive with the help of my magic.
Using the crown's magic, Lian created a garden of wonderful pink lilies. That very day, the queen passed by and saw the garden. She immediately fell in love with the lilies and ordered the gardeners to tend to them.
When Lian came to see what was happening, she saw that the gardeners were working in the garden, not the queen, and she was saddened.
— Oh no! That's not how it's supposed to be!
Fortunately for Lian, the gardeners didn't like Helia and didn't bother to take good care of the lilies. Then, when she visited the garden, she was upset because she saw some flowers withering.
— If you can't take care of the lilies, I'll do it myself. No one is to come near this place anymore.
And, to Lian's delight, the queen worked in the garden every day. At first, it was very hard for her.
The witch tried to use her powers to make Helia hate them. But Helia's love was too strong and she never got angry at the flowers.
Being patient with the flowers, she soon began to be patient with others too.
— I'm sorry, Your Highness, but the soup needs more time. — Oh, that's alright. I asked for a new kind of soup. That's why it takes longer.
Everyone began to see that Helia had changed and to like her even more.
The Spell Broken
One day, Helia was in the garden and Lian came to her.
— Mother, haven't the lilies bloomed yet? — Well, they're healthy. They'll bloom at the right time. I'll wait.
And suddenly, the queen fainted.
— Oh no! Mother! What happened to you? Magic crown, what happened? — The spell has been broken. She will be fine now.
And so, as the crown said, the next day the queen was already better. First, she removed the ring from her husband's finger. The spell vanished immediately, but the king remembered what had happened in recent days.
— How could I have treated my dear Lian and Helia that way? I should have been more careful. — Don't blame yourself, my love. It's over. Let's forget about everything. I want to give you something.
Lian took the crown and placed it on the queen's head. It continued to glow.
— It seems you both deserve the crown. — I think Lian should wear the crown. She deserves it the most, for her patience saved us all.
Thus, the kingdom became a joyful place once more. The queen recovered quickly and was very patient. The king was overjoyed to see this. Then he chased away the witch so she would never trouble anyone in the kingdom again.
Lian continued to be as sweet as always. She taught everyone that patience is a wonderful quality and that it can lead to enormous change, if you learn to appreciate time and the people around you.
