The Prince

[neko_sakana]

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful prince who lived in a wonderful kingdom. When he smiled, the whole kingdom smiled back. When he told a joke, the whole kingdom laughed. When he laughed...

 

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful prince, beloved of a... scholar. The scholar said, "I love you." The prince said, "I love you too." They had lived their lives, short though they were, in happiness and joy, followed in all that they did by peerless luck.

 

They planned their future in the wonderful kingdom, and they were happy.

 

Then disaster struck. The prince fell ill. The kingdom's healers could do nothing to cure him. They said the only thing to do was to "wait it out". They couldn't take away the pain. They couldn't take away the suffering. 

The scholar waited by the prince's bed. In desperation, he prayed to his patron saint, the Lady of Luck, but it was no use; all of their good luck was being met tenfold by this bad.

 

The scholar said, "I love you." The prince said, "Goodbye."

The scholar begged, "Please!" The prince was silent.

 

The prince went away.

 

The kingdom mourned. The Lady mourned. The scholar mourned. 

 

When he could no longer cry, he laughed. When he could no longer laugh, he cried. Never again would the scholar's eyes see the beautiful prince.

 

 

The scholar wiped his tears away, and vowed to do better. He vowed to use his luck to do good in the world, to create new things, to fix that which was broken. 

 

He did not know if he could return to the kingdom, with its heartache and woe. He did not know if he could face its people again. He did not know if he could face those memories.

 

But he would try.