Fairy Tales From Around the World

The Princess and the Pearl

Once upon a time, in a small kingdom, there lived a queen and her only son, the prince. For many days and nights, Queen Matsumi had desperately tried countless times to find her son a proper princess to wed, for she was rather picky about whom the Prince should marry. She thought only a girl who could truly make her son happy would be perfect for him, but alas, it was all in vain. None of the girls she met or ran into were true princesses. One would be too mean or too vain, too selfish, too cruel, or too proud. Not a single one of these girls that the Queen encountered would catch the Prince's eye. After several months of extensive searching, the Queen finally threw in the towel.

"I'm sorry I can't help you find a bride, son," Queen Matsumi sighed.

"It's okay, Mom. The important thing is that you tried, right?" The Prince replied.

"Well, I guess so."

One stormy night, there was a knock at the door.

"I wonder who that could be," the Queen said to herself as she walked towards the door.

When she opened the door, she saw a young girl she didn't recognize standing on the doorstep before. This girl has somewhat pale skin and a slender yet curvaceous figure with well-toned thighs. She has long, brown hair and big brown eyes. She was also drenched in mud and rainwater from her head to her feet and her clothes, coat, and hair were nothing but a dirty, tattered mess.

The Queen's son, Prince Kenji soon joined his mother and the moment he saw the strange girl, his mouth fell wide open and his eyes grew large. Through all of that water, grime, and mud, Prince Kenji thought that the girl standing in front of him was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and he felt something pulling at his heartstrings when he gazed at her. Slowly, a smile crept onto the Prince's lips. The girl shared the emotion towards him and she blushed furiously the moment she gazed into Prince Kenji's wide golden eyes. But she remembered her manners and turned her head to face the Queen again.

"Thank you so much, Your Majesty. Phew! For a second, I thought I was gonna be stuck out there all night," the stranger exclaimed, wiping her brows with her hand.

"You're welcome, sweetheart. But, who are you?" The Queen asked as she led the strange girl inside and shut the castle door.

"Oh, right! Sorry about that. My name is Princess Uriko Nonomura," the girl said, bowing her head to the two people.

"A princess?" Prince Kenji commented, glancing over at his mother who smirked and shrugged at him.

"Yep," Uriko replied bluntly with a nod.

"But...but you're a total mess. What in the name of God happened to you?" The Queen asked with a concerned look in her eyes.

"Well, I was on my way home from a recent vacation, but then this awful storm came out of nowhere. My carriage broke down, I got separated from my servants and I wandered through the rain for a pretty long time until I finally ended up here. So, can I please stay for the night?" the girl asked.

Being the hospitable woman she was, instead of making her leave, the Queen decided to let Uriko stay for the night. She ordered some of her servants to draw a bath for their new guest and give her a new set of clothes. Uriko had said that she was royalty, but how could Queen Matsumi and Prince Kenji know for sure that this girl was really a princess?

"There must be some way we can find out," the Queen whispered to the Prince.

"But what do you suggest we do, Mom? Are we just going to let her take some royalty test to prove she is a princess without her knowing about it? Get real," Prince Kenji playfully scoffed.