Chapter 0 - Prologue

Please read the previous chapter ‘Note’ before reading Prologue.

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Prologue

[Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful girl in a small country village.

One day, a noble prince appeared in front of her. The Prince, while offering the crown on his head, said, “Beautiful one, I love you. I will give you the crown I have. Please marry me.”

But she shook her head and answered.

“Sorry. I can’t give you an answer yet.”

Next, a dignified knight appeared. The knight offered the sword wrapped around his waist and said, “Beautiful one, I love you. I will give you my sword. Please marry me.”

“Sorry. I can’t give you an answer yet.”

Then, a wealthy merchant appeared. The merchant looked at the huge gold nuggets he had loaded onto the cart and said, “Beautiful one, I love you. I will give you my gold. Please marry me.”

“Sorry. I can’t give you an answer yet.”

The three suitors were very angry. They thought the maiden was making fun of them, so they accused her and turned her away.

When they came back later, the maiden was already buried in the cold ground.

But in the garden where she was buried, beautiful flowers that they had never seen before were in full bloom. As if to answer the three suitors, the buds were in the shape of the crown offered by the Prince, the leaves were in the shape of the sword offered by the knight, and the roots were in the shape of the golden mass offered by the wealthy merchant…]

– Do you know which flower it is about?

– Of course, I do, Your Majesty. It’s a flower that was in our yard. Uh… not now, a long time ago, when I was a kid.

– Aha? Was this flower in full bloom in the yard?

– Yes. In spring, red, yellow, and white flowers bloom brilliantly, and the buds really are like crowns, the leaves are pointed like the knights’ swords, and the roots are like yellow gold chunks. No one in the village knew the exact name of the flower, but the shape of the flower bud resembles the round point of the turban, so we called it ‘Tulipa’.

– You’re mistaken. This is the secret lore of the French royal flower, the lily.

– What? Well, no way!

– Why do you think that’s impossible?

– Oh, well, that’s…

– That’s strange. Why would an Ashkenazi* man who lived in Paris, France, not the Eastern Utremer, name it the Flower of Turban? Only some native Parisians* are familiar with the hats of the Saracens*. Besides, weren’t the hats that were worn by the Ashkenazi people not turbans, but instead yellow, horn-shaped hats?

– Your Majesty. I don’t live in Utremer, but I know what turbans are. Your Majesty has never been to the Ashkenazi village, but you know about the kippah and horn hats we wear.

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– The way you talk to the king is arrogant, Ashkenazi. …So, what choice did the beautiful woman make in the end? The Prince?

– The flowers that bloom in the buried land must be her heart. That means, she chose all three, not two, not one, until the end. This means, in the end, no one was chosen.

– The woman didn’t turn down any of her proposals. She said she could not give them an answer ‘yet’. The word ‘yet’ doesn’t mean to say no, it means to wait. Doesn’t it?

– She is dead, though? Then it’s over, isn’t it?

– Because human will doesn’t end with death… It is said that she left a message to her suitors before her death.

<Please, please wait. When I see you again, I will surely answer you properly.>

– Oh, my God! How shameless?

– But one of the suitors really believed it and began waiting. Even though he knew she had fallen asleep in the cold ground, he sat in the shade of a garden full of flowers, under the tree where she was buried, waiting endlessly.

– Well, who was that? So what happened?

– I don’t know who he was. Anyway, the suitor waited and waited in the garden and eventually became a stone, leaning against the tree where she slept.

– Oh, my God…

– The suitor prayed earnestly as he turned a stone. ‘I can no longer wait for you, so now you come to me. Even in the very distant future, to be born with you so that we can meet again. I will still love you, and I will confess again with the same gift, so please answer me properly then.’

– Oh, my God. That’s not love, but a foolish obsession. And?

– As time passed, his stone body was shattered by the wind and rain, but his heart, harder than a stone, and the soul that dwelled there, was deeply anchored in the tree, looking down at the flowers that bloom year after year, waiting for her to return.

– …

– In the distant future, the beautiful owner of the garden will turn to stone, embrace the traces of the shattered suitor, and swear an apology. ‘I will always keep my promises, so I ask you to keep your promises too.’

– So, how did it end, Your Majesty? Is the suitor alive? Or was he born again? So what happened to the two after that? Did they meet again? In heaven? On the ground? What was the woman’s choice?

– …Are you curious about the story behind it?

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Keywords: These might be wrong, I googled a few keywords so that it’s easy to understand. If you find it wrong, please let me know in the comments section. I would very much appreciate it! ????

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Ashkenazi – The term Ashkenazi refers to a group of Jews who lived in the Rhineland valley and in neighboring France before their migration eastward to Slavic lands (e.g., Poland, Lithuania, and Russia) after the Crusades (11th–13th century) and their descendants.

Parisian – A native or inhabitant of Paris, France.

Saracens – Saracen (plural Saracens) A member of a nomadic people from the Sinai near the Roman province of Arabia in the early centuries CE, who were specifically distinct from Arabs.