The Knight from the Fairytales-Chapter 34: Underestimating This World

Inside a huge castle, white doves gathered curiously by the window, but suddenly a crown was thrown out, the window shattered, and the startled doves scattered. The king’s angry voice echoed inside,
“My son has been shirking his responsibilities for far too long, it’s time to make him marry and settle down.”
The angry king made a mess of the palace over this matter, sweeping the table’s contents onto the floor, breaking the porcelain into pieces.
The ministers hiding to the side dared not show their faces, waiting until the king calmed down before stepping out from behind a pillar.
“This matter is certainly important, but Your Majesty, we should give the Prince some time. We must be patient.”
At these words, an ink bottle was thrown out roughly, aimed at the minister, forcing him back behind the pillar; the sound of breaking porcelain rang out again.
“Patience? Of course I have patience, but I’m getting older. I want to see my grandchild born before I die.”
“Ah, I understand, Your Majesty.”
“No, you don’t know what it’s like, watching your only son drift further away. How lonely I am in this cold old palace. I want to hear small feet pattering about.”
The king said, somewhat sorrowfully, then suddenly hugged the minister and couldn’t hold back his tears. The minister, helpless, could only return the embrace to comfort him.
The palace was enormous and lined with many portraits, all of the Prince, from infancy to youth to now a handsome young man on a white horse.
This indicated the Prince had grown up and no longer needed his father’s company. For the king, the place was too desolate; there was no one to keep his old bones company.
Pushing a son to marry is universal in any world; every parent wants their child to marry early and start producing grandchildren.
The minister patted the king’s head to console him, then offered his suggestion.
“Your Majesty, perhaps we should simply stop interfering with him.”
Those words made the king furious again. He stopped crying and suddenly roared, flinging the minister aside.
“Not interfere? Not interfere with his naive romantic fantasies?”
The minister hid behind the throne, still reluctant to give up.
“This is a matter of love, Your Majesty.”
“Love! It’s just a matter of the right conditions, a boy meets a girl. I will arrange that girl myself.”
“But Your Majesty, what if the Prince is suspicious?”
“Suspicious? The boy comes back today, does he not?”
As the king spoke, he closed in on the minister, exerting such pressure the minister kept retreating, but he still answered the king’s question immediately.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Excellent, then holding a ball to celebrate his return would be most natural.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“If all our unmarried ladies happen to be present, he will inevitably take an interest in one of them.”
Finally, the king seemed to issue his ultimatum, grabbing the minister by the collar and demanding, “Is that not so?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Good. Once he takes an interest, with soft moonlight and romantic music, everything will come together naturally. This cannot fail.
The ball is tonight—remember, tonight. All unmarried ladies must attend.”
The minister finally collapsed to the floor, then scrambled up and saluted.
“Yes, Your Majesty, I will arrange it at once.”
One had to admit, the king had a thorough, if blunt, understanding of love in this world.
With the order given, messengers carried baskets of invitations, going door to door.
When Beihai received his letter, he understood his chance had come.
The magic he had coveted for so long now had some promise; that fairy who appeared with Ella would, at tonight’s important event, provide a strong assist.
Elsa dragged over a stool, climbed onto the table to peer at the letter, rechecked it uncertainly, then jumped off and ran to the kitchen.
“Sister Ella, there’s a letter from the kingdom. It looks like an invitation for you.”
Ella, busy with the animals, was surprised by Elsa’s words. Why would the king invite her?
“The king invited me? What’s this about?”
“Uh, not exactly. The Prince is returning. The king is holding a big ball to welcome him home, and he’s invited all unmarried ladies.”
“Basically he’s trying to find the Prince a companion. The king’s old, the Prince is single, and he wants grandchildren.”
Beihai explained from the side, then glanced at Ella—after grooming, she was quite charming.
“Sister Ella, you meet all the requirements. You should go. I’m too young, I’m so envious. That’s Prince Charming himself.”
The mere title of Prince sent every girl in this world into daydreams.
When the phrase white horse prince appears, every girl’s imagination runs wild, understandably so.
But Ella shook her head: “There’s nothing to envy. I don’t plan to attend.”
At this, Beihai slammed the table and stood up with a bang, hardly able to believe it.
“What did you say? You’re not going? How could you not want to go? You should be dying to go!”
This was wrong, very wrong. Even in the original story, Ella longed for the Prince, yet now she said she didn’t want to go.
“Ah? What’s the matter?”
Startled, Ella made a small cry; even Elsa went quiet.
Beihai quickly tried to soothe his own agitation: “Nothing, nothing. I was just curious why you wouldn’t want to go. That’s every girl’s dream.”
“But it’s for unmarried ladies, and my mother already sold me off to you. Besides, I’ve been living happily lately.”
“You’re satisfied with that? No way. You must attend this ball!”
“Must I? Is this your demand?”
Ella’s tone and mood shifted noticeably.
Beihai couldn’t care—this is the magic wand that can make everything happen, with no side effects.
And in the movie, the Prince is very decent, a true gentleman who treats even an ugly girl kindly and can talk naturally to her.
Even if a spell were cast and Ella leapt at the Prince acting like a pest, he wouldn’t be angry, nor would he order the guards to drag her out.
Beihai thought marrying her off wouldn’t be a loss; true lovers will be united, love at first sight is normal!
Most important, they belong together—that’s why Beihai felt so carefree. You two are already a pair; if you don’t go, that’s the abnormal thing!
Ella, however, couldn’t stand it. Feeling betrayed, she covered her face and cried, then locked herself in her room, not even letting Elsa in.
Only muffled sobs could be heard from outside.
Beihai was at a loss, unable to understand what went wrong.
He had spent so much money raising her and deliberately kept his distance to preserve that moment—wasn’t this all for today? Why did he feel like a villain?
It was clear Beihai had underestimated this world’s notion of handsome-men-causing-love-at-first-sight buffs.
In the film-version of Aurora’s story, a girl and a passing youth lock eyes and spend a day together, each falling for the other.
When Aurora returns, she discovers she has an arranged marriage to a neighboring kingdom’s prince; devastated, she hides in her room and cries.
As for the ending, it turns out that the passing youth was actually that neighboring kingdom’s prince.