The Tale of the Three Princesses
Once upon a time, in a kingdom known as Orlania, lived a good-hearted King, Charles. The King was getting old, and so he decided to pass on his reign to his three daughters. The eldest was Maria, wise beyond her years. The middle one was Rosalia, a princess who was charming, full of life, and the youngest was Clara, who was more artistic and free-spirited than her sisters.
He announced a competition among his daughters. The one who proves to be the sharpest and kindest in serving the kingdom would become the reigning queen. The daughters gladly accepted the challenge. They were determined to prove their worth, not to wrestle over the throne, but to honor their father's wish.
Maria was wise. She thought that solving the problems of the people efficiently would be her path to success. So, she prepared a system for everyone in the town to come forth with their problems. People queued up in hundreds, and she lent her ear to every grievance. However, the pressing problems were endless, and the people were not wholly satisfied.
Rosalia chose to invest her energy in enhancing the kingdom's prosperity. She mingled with merchants, levied fair taxes, brought trade agreements with neighboring kingdoms, but the wealthier kingdom led to greed among individuals, leading to small pockets of rebellion cropping up.
Clara, however, chose a different path. She sat daily in the town square, sketching portraits of the common folk, from blacksmiths to maids, cherishing their simple stories of life, happiness, and survival. Word of the kind-hearted princess who values every individual spread across the kingdom.
One day, a wise old man considered a prophet sought an audience with the King. He held deep knowledge about an impending disaster, a reign of darkness which would fall upon the kingdom if not acted upon.
The news spread fast, causing chaos, fear, and uncertainty among the residents. Clara, hearing the rumors, rushed to the old man, urging him to reveal the solution to evade the doom. Reluctantly, he revealed a riddle, a puzzle which held the key to prevent the catastrophe.
'In daylight find the moon, with night brimming in the noon, a light without flame beneath the lion's mane.'
At once, Maria and Rosalia began to investigate. libraries were searched, and astrologers consulted but to no avail. Clara, however, focused on the riddle’s metaphorical meaning. She remembered an etching of a moonstone that she drew from a townsfolk's story. The stone only appeared in daylight, in a particular dark cave (night brimming in the noon) beneath a lion-shaped mountain.
With the guidance of the man, Clara ventured into the ominous cave and found the moonstone. As dusk turned into night, a blinding light from the stone washed over the kingdom of Orlania. Just like that, the reign of darkness that was predicted ceased to exist, and the kingdom was saved.
King Charles, witnessing everything, was overjoyed. He saw wisdom in Maria, leadership in Rosalia, but a combination of empathy, courage, and wisdom in Clara. Thus, he announced Clara as his rightful heir. The entire kingdom erupted into cheer and the story of the unconventional princess echoed in the generations that followed.
The story of the three princesses is a tale of courage, empathy, wisdom, and leadership. It is a story that teaches us that everyone has a role to play, their unique strengths to contribute to the larger good of the kingdom or the world that is their home.