The story of a Prince and a peasant.

King Edwin Maxwell Meriweather III wasn't a very picky man. Still, he had taste. He didn't look in the least bit sad after the town crier had announced that the king sought a new wife. He'd made it clear to his subjects that no one would mention his last wife's name. Ever. She had gone missing, just like his previous wives and now there was no choice left but the marry a peasant. King Edwin rather liked that idea... Marrying a peasant. He'd pay a pretty penny to her father as well, should the need arise, in order to marry such a woman.

The King glanced out of the window, thinking about all of his past wives... They'd been... Interesting. All too young, though. He was a well-aged man, well into his late twenties. The "women" he was often given to marry had been teenagers! Some as young as 18, which, Edwin both liked and hated all at the same time. There was no one to share his interests or share in his "goals". Their only concern was marrying to increase their own families' wealth and power, something Edwin admired.

Whenever another wife went missing, he'd regretfully inform her parents that, "she'd died in childbirth". To which, they were always shocked to discover that she was "pregnant" at all. After they'd mourned, he'd tell his loyal subjects not to speak of his wife, to tell no one that his wife had never been pregnant or that her body had never been found. The secrets that swam around the castle were mostly kept, as King Edwin was known to execute those who dared to so much as spread rumors about what could have happened to his wives.

"Hear ye, hear ye!" The town crier called, "Let it be known that on this day, King Edwin Maxwell Meriweather III is now seeking a new wife! The Royal kingdom will be hosting a ball, in which, any young maiden between the age of eighteen and twenty five shall be allowed thirty minutes with the King." The town crier read from his royal papers, crying again, "Hear ye, hear ye... Let it be known that on this day..."