Once upon a time

  There was a princess who lived a royal life

  She has the most beautiful eyes, beautiful skin, beautiful body, and a beautiful heart

  She was very kind-hearted and loved to help other people

  She's the kind of princess who, instead of staying inside her beautiful palace all the time

  She would go out to town to her people to help, serve, and solve their problems

  The people love the princess for her unparalleled kindness, beauty, and just

  Her parents, the King and the Queen, were very proud of their youngest daughter

  The princess has an elder sister, but unlike the princess, she was the complete opposite

  She was rude to anyone and even her parents, and she also harmed the princess when they were younger, purely because of jealousy

  The elder sister, when she had her coming of age ceremony, was not dubbed the princess of the kingdom; her parent insisted that she had a lot to learn for the position

  But a year later, when the younger sister had her 17th birthday, she was immediately dubbed the princess

  Seeing this, the elder sister got incredibly jealous and left the kingdom

  It's been two years since she was gone, but then she suddenly came back to the palace

  When she arrived, facing her parents and sister in the throne room, she announced her evil plan

  She had become a Believer and decided to use her Faith power for vengeance

  The elder sister has the power to grow black thorns out of thin air

  She summons black thorns to fill out the entire palace, so that the palace has become inaccessible from either the outside or the inside

  She has trapped everyone inside the palace and cursed everyone never to leave the palace ever again

  She left the palace and disappeared, and she was never to be seen or heard from again

  The black thorns bound everyone inside the palace, and they could not move to escape

  They can only stand still and accept their fate

  The townspeople on the outside were terrified, yet they wanted to help the King, Queen, Princess, and everyone else inside the palace

  When the townspeople stormed the palace, they tried everything they could, from cutting, burning, breaking, punching, and kicking the black thorns

  Nothing the townspeople did ever amounted to anything, and they eventually gave up

  They were sad because the townspeople could do nothing to repay the kindness of the princess

  Word spread of a kingdom cursed for eternity throughout the entire nation

  Visitors come from all places to try to break the curse of the black thorns, yet none of them ever succeed

  A hundred years have passed, and the kingdom is still cursed, and visitors still come to the palace every day

  One day, a prince from a distant kingdom heard of this curse and decided to try his luck as well

  The prince was a Believer who held a holy sword that could shoot holy light out of its blade

  When he arrived in front of the castle, he got off his white, pristine horse and summoned his holy sword

  The townsfolk gather in the palace to once again witness the attempt to free the palace

  The prince raises his sword high, and a light shoots upwards, forming the shape of the blade, but bigger and longer

  The prince swings his sword down and cuts all of the black thorns in one go

  The palace was finally freed from a century-old curse

  When everyone saw it, they cheered and were excited to finally see the princess whose tale of kindness and beauty had been passed down for generations

  Everyone entered the castle and saw that the palace had returned to normal

  Everyone inside has been able to move again

  But when they entered the throne room, they were surprised to see that everyone inside did not age at all

  The King and Queen welcomed the prince and the townsfolk, then they told them about what had happened

  The King and Queen were shocked, but then they immediately wanted to congratulate the prince

  The King and Queen offered the princess to be taken as the prince's bride

  The prince initially declared and explained his case that if the princess herself is willing, that only then he will take her as his bride

  The princess was taken aback by the prince's statement, and she felt honoured that she took the prince's hand to be his bride

  The prince and the princess had a wedding ceremony in the palace, and everyone in the kingdom, including outsiders, was invited. It was such a big celebration throughout the nation

  And then they lived happily ever after.

  The end.

  . . . . .

  "Do you like the story, honey?"

  "Yeah, Mom! The princess was so kind, and so was the prince. I love that, Mama! I hope I get to meet my own prince when I grow up!"

  "Oh, of course you will, honey. For now, please go to sleep!"

  "Okay, mama, good night!"

  The mom kissed her daughter on the forehead.

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  "Good night, honey!"

  My name is Tsukiyama Karin. From when I was very little, I've always loved the story of the princess and the prince that my mom always told me before sleep. I've prayed every day that I, too, would meet my own prince who saved me from a certain doom. I hope God hears this prayer of mine. I was so captivated by this story because I thought it was so romantic. When the kind princess was saved by the kind prince and then they also got married in the end.

  Aaaahhh. . . I wish I could, too, someday.

  Oh, but I shall not forget the part about the princess being kind. I have to grow up and be kind as well. I've decided I have to be a kind person until I meet my own kind prince one day. I asked my parents about what it means to be kind. My parents giggled at me and explained it to me. Their explanation was very brief, and I understood it a bit.

  I figured I should start practicing being kind. I first practiced it in the 1st year of elementary school. During recess, I actively go out of my way to look for anyone who needs help. I spent the entire recess walking around the school, and I forgot to actually have lunch. I spent the rest of school hungry.

  When I got home and my mom found out, she scolded me heavily. As I was crying, she told me that I should not neglect my own health and the school lesson. There are boundaries for these things, and I should learn how to balance all three of them at once. I nodded my head, and my mom hugged me to comfort me.

  The next day, I focused on my class. I also did not go out of my way again to look for trouble. During recess, I just sat in my seat and enjoyed my packed lunch. When I finished eating, I still had some time until recess was over. But I just spent it reviewing the lecture just now.

  A week later, we had a sudden quiz. I was excited because I reviewed the lecture every day, and I understood the current topic so well. Later, when the teacher gave us back our quiz, she announced that I got the highest score in the class. The teacher asked me to come to the front and command everyone in class to applaud for me. When everybody clapped, I saw their smiles and happy faces, and that in turn also made me smile and happy.

  When I got home, I told my mom what happened. She was glad and told me I should be proud of that. She also cooked me a ramen with cheese melted enough to fuse with the broth. It tastes so heavenly that it became my favourite food ever. After that, my mom occasionally cooked me ramen with cheese every time I got a good score on my tests, exams, and quizzes. This motivates me further to always get a good score in class.

  Around two years later, when I was 10 in the 3rd year of elementary school, my mom introduced me to someone who would become my big sister. My parents said they're adopting this girl for reasons I could not comprehend. She was 4 years older and was a lot taller than me. The first thing I noticed is that we have a similar red color, only a bit different in shade. Her hairstyle is also cute; she styled it into a side ponytail and left it hanging on the front of her body on the right. That hairstyle made her look older and mature. Unlike my deep red eyes, hers are salmon pink. Overall, she just looks really cool, cute, and mature.

  I went and introduced myself to her, and she introduced herself to me as well. Her name was Claudia Clay. She has a foreign name. I asked where she was from, but she didn't really know. I asked my mom and dad, and they also didn't know. It was weird how even my parents didn't know where she came from.

  My mom and dad assigned an empty room for her that was next to mine on the second floor. I was so happy to actually get a sibling, because I've been an only child my whole life. And then I spent time with her in her room.

  "Hey hey! What should I call you?"

  "Hmm, anything you wish. I don't mind at all."

  "Claud. . .-chan? Claudia-chan? Cla-chan? Clau-chan?"

  "Only one of those names sounded good, so please call me Claudia-chan."

  "So, have you become accustomed to living in Japan, Claudia-chan?"

  "Ah, of course! I was at the point of being the one to remind some of my Japanese friends of some basic manners and stuff instead."

  "WOW! That's impressive, Claudia-chan! How do you know so much about our cultures?"

  "I'm kind of a genius, hehehe! I learnt it all at the orphanage where I grew up! Well, I'm still growing up, but you know what I mean."

  "Did you have any friends there?"

  "Of course I did! There was Ki-chan, Mei-chan, Aki-chan, and Ku-chan!"

  "Hmm, seems like this Ku-chan is a boy. Did you like him?"

  "H-HUH? OF COURSE NOT! He's just a cool friend, that's all!"

  "Oh, okay then, sorry for misinterpreting it."

  ". . . .Are you serious. . .Karin-chan?"

  "Just kidding! Of course I know you like him even now, hahahha!"

  "Wha-? D-Don't tease me like that, you, s-STUPID!!"

  "HAHAHAHHAA!!"

  When I heard her say that, I was filled with joy. I get the feeling that having this feeling is just gonna be the norm when I get used to having a sibling. Teasing your sibling is great fun.

  "Hey, Claudia-chan! I heard from Daddy that you're a Believer, is that right?"

  "Heheheh! Yes, I am!"

  "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

  *clap clap clap*

  I applauded her confirmation in excitement. I have never met nor seen a Believer in my life. I've always known their existence and Faith power itself from my mom and dad, as well as in some lectures in class, but I never actually witnessed one. To meet one this soon and as a family member even is a bit wild to me.

  "So, what is your Faith power? Which type is it? Is your Faith power strong? What can you do with it? Can you fly?"

  "One by one, okay! Hehehe, I am so glad to meet someone who's this geeky about Faith powers! Because I am the same, hehehe!"

  "So, what is it? Tell me!!"

  I asked Claudia with starry eyes, showing how excited I was.

  "Okay, stand back a little. Don't get too close! It's going to hurt!"

  I took a step back as per her warning. Claudia opened her right palm, and then a ball of magma the size of a baseball appeared out of nowhere.

  "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWW!! SO COOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL!!!"