For @artofmintea! I was ever so excited to be activated as an emergency cupid this past December, and your requests pulled my muse up to her feet and got her dancing. I sincerely hope you enjoy this fic 💕 (And keep an eye out— the second and third chapters are soon to follow! Hehehe ღ)
Summary: "The King’s Ball was an event celebrated in every corner of the kingdom. For a countryside noble like Sakura, the idea of joining the Capitol’s version of these festivities had always been far out of reach. Most often the duties of arranging such a grand affair fell onto the First Lady of the Kingdom. This time, however, the current Crown has fallen into regency. Due to the mischief of a royal courier, it was somehow decided that the Haruno Barony will be the host of this year’s Ball. Sakura, the only lady of her house, must now navigate the dangerous waters of politics, high society, and oddly enough, love.
or
The five times Lady Haruno Sakura was tempted to punch someone and the one time she did."
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There is a witch’s son. He falls in love with the Princess. She does not love him, not yet. She wants to learn to. But her father, the King, refuses to see them wed. He will not stand for his daughter to fall in love with a peasant boy, much less a witch’s son. His daughter is willful. She convinces him to allow a Tournament for her hand. The Witch’s Son, under the guise of honour and swordsmanship, is announced as the victor. But the King was never to allot him his reward. Instead, the King plans to lock his daughter away, searching for a reason to deny her a husband.
It is then that he learns the truth of the Tournament’s victor. Within the day, the King orders the Witch’s Son to leave his kingdom, never to return. By night, the Princess has been locked away inside Wisdom's Tower. The King arranges for the Princess to be wed in three moon’s time. But the Witch’s Son does not leave quietly. He leaves traces of himself for the Princess to find, beguiles that which flies over land and sea to carry his words to her, and enchants the parchment to ensure their delivery.
The Princess does not know to miss him during the first moon. During the second, she exchanges the letters of the Witch's Son for the pages of a journal she did not write, but means nonetheless. By the third, she longs for the Witch’s Son, damning her father with bitter words. The day before the wedding, the Princess is found out.
Thrown to the dungeons by her father, it is there that the Witch’s Son reveals himself as the beat of wing and claw, asking the Princess to partake in drink with him. The fragrance of the vial is as sweet as the letters he sent. She drinks with him happily, binding together their heart and lives. The Witch’s Son, having learned a great deal in his time away from the Kingdom, takes the Princess from the bowels of the Tower, destroying the enchantments her father’s great mage wove into a cage. They journey far, far away— where they can be happy to live without the King’s disapproval.
—
There is a witch’s son. He falls in love with the Princess. She does not love him. That much, is true. But he is a witch’s son, student of the brew and capable of just the same. The Princess must want to love him. He cannot live any other way. He is a witch’s son. It is easy to achieve a pleasant scent, easy to achieve something that seeps and does not stain. Easy to earn the Princess’ trust, as she is kind as she is beautiful. Forced away, land and sea cannot thwart his love for her. Upon the third moon, neither can it thwart her love for him. There is a witch’s son. The Princess loves him. She cannot conceive its duplicity, will never be told of its origin, and so she loves him. More than the Kingdom, and so it is that kingdom that suffers her absence. But to the few, that is the happily ever after.
Commentary
The above fairytale, The King & The Witch's Son, was made for the event!fic I wrote back in November 2025, In Between Scenes. As I often write medieval fantasy over modern settings and therefore am more comfortable with it, I tried to find a way to write more of the former despite the prompts that I chose for the event. Coincidentally, I happened to have rewatched The Princess Bride (1987) on DVD, which inspired the fairytale-to-movie aspect of the fic.
That DVD also included several behind-the-scenes features. After watching them, I decided to use that concept to impart more of the fairytale details into the fic itself.
The 'movie,' of course, differs from the fairytale itself. Here are some notes about The Princess' Tear (2025):
● The director of the movie chose the name ‘Bertrand’ to honour the pet crow that the original Witch’s Son was said to have.
● The journal that the Princess uses to communicate with the Witch's Son belongs to her mother, who once used it to 'write to' the Witch.
● The cottage they are watching the movie in is the same cottage the Princess and the Witch’s Son live in at the end of the movie.
The Princess' Tear (2025): Plot Notes
The Princess is 25 at the start of the story, maintaining her maidenhood as her father refused to marry her off in the name of protection. So protective is the King that he even conceals her name from the Kingdom, referring to her only as the Princess.
In reality, there simply wasn’t a suitor that benefitted him enough. The King was a materialistic man, especially after the death of his wife, though he never treated the Princess badly. It could be felt, however, that he did not think much of her beyond her value to him.
The Witch's Son, Bertrand, earns the name Sir Ermine in the swordsmanship tournament to win a kiss from the Princess.
The Princess, considering Bertrand a dear friend, weeps for the first time in her adult life when he is sent away; it is then that the ‘Witch’s Curse’ appears, her tears falling as "precious gemstones and pearls."
Upon this discovery, her father locks her away in Wisdom's Tower, visiting once a day to take away the teardrop jewels.
To the Kingdom, The King claims that it is because of this 'Witch's Curse' that has come upon her, that they must lock it away so that it will not hurt anyone else as they search for a way to break it.
In truth, it is so that the King could devise a way to keep her bound to the kingdom to take advantage of her power in the same way he took advantage of her mother's.
