ONCE upon a time in a faraway kingdom, there lived a beautiful but very proud and stubborn princess Belle, the only daughter of a powerful and authoritarian king.

“Ah, how bored I am with all my clothes!” declared her royal highness one fine morning, admiring herself in the mirror. “Stiff crinolines, silky décolleté, satin frocks, velvety galas, taffeta gowns — everyone has them in their wardrobes!”

She sighed, and after thinking a minute, capriciously stamped her foot, “I want something special! A dress so unique that whoever sees me wearing it would be awestruck by my gorgeousness and style!”

A young page, whose duty was to look after the privy chamber affairs, overheard the words of the princess. This shy and honest lad was desperately (and secretly!) in love with her and dreamt of becoming a knight and slaying a dragon to impress his lady of his heart. But unfortunately, there were no suitable dragons so far, whereas the caprice of the monarch’s daughter was equal to a law.

The first dress our Romeo presented the princess with was made of the multicoloured plasticine, but it was a way too frail for hot sunbeams, and very soon softened and sagged.

“Phew!” the princess wrinkled her nose in disdain.

The second dress was designed from a delicate and high-grade papyrus-paper. The page worked hard on it, scrupulously crafting the fine floriated lacings for the collar and the sleeves, but the moment the princess took it to try it on, a light breeze blew in the open window and the dress loudly rustled.

“How awful!” screamed the princess, horror-stricken. “It rustles so noisily that no one is going to hear what I’ll be talking! Get out and take this ugliness with you!”

Sad with the failure, the young page left the palace. For many hours he was wandering on the streets of the city and thinking about an exquisite dress that would make the princess happy. He stopped by tinsmith, carpenter and furrier shops, but the moment he imagined Belle in the dress made of tinplates, wood or raw leather, he would run from there without a backward glance.

He almost lost his heart, when suddenly he noticed a small neat patisserie at the far end of the shady alley. Its transparent display case was filled with yummiest treats in the world — chocolate animals, marzipan castles, horehound candy, honey sticks, jelly bellies, fruit lollipops on long wooden sticks, caramel dolls, pralines, bonbons and whatnot, that magically shined and sparkled in the sun.

“It’ll be a caramel dress,” whispered page and rushed into the shop.

The plump vanilla-scented confectioner tried his best to decline the unusual request, but finally succumbed to persuasion. For the whole night, the light in the candy store remained on — the page and the chef were busy in preparing the caramel and pouring it into the moulds.

By the morning the dress was ready and delivered in the palace.

“What a marvel!” said the princess, delightedly examining the long puffy skirt made of pearl-pink caramel and embellished with green lollipop crystals.

Stylish patterns from the icing sugar, marmalade ribbons, and corsage decorated with pear and tangerine drops — everything looked exceptionally elegant.

The princess immediately put on her new clothes and left for the promenade to the palace square, where a flock of butterflies, which were attracted by sweet scent of caramel, instantly surrounded her.

“What a wonderful dress!” admired everyone who saw her. “Just look at it!”

Within minutes the gathering grew into a large crowd. Children and dogs were trying to take a lick of the tasty royal outfit, but were chased away by the guards, whereas the rest of the public encircled the confectioner, who was proudly telling them that the wonder-dress was made of his caramel.

Princess leisurely strolled, enjoying the appreciation, when it suddenly struck her: “Why everyone is talking only about how amazing the dress is and the artistry it was designed with?” People seemed to have completely forgotten that the dress was worn by her — the princess!

“Only I deserve all the admiration and not that stupid dress!” she frowned.

Seeing Belle unhappy, the young page genuinely saddened, “Oh, I am a loser! I failed to please the princess again!”

And then … Naughty cloudlet, which happened to float over the palace at that time, decided it was too heavy and clumsy, and — in the blink of an eye — a warm summer rain was merrily pouring over the palace square. Its first drops glittered on the caramel dress like precious diamonds, causing a new wave of delight among the crowd.

Suddenly someone yelled in disbelief: “Look, it’s melting! The dress is melting!”

And indeed, the rainwater was running down the splendid dress in pink, green and white streams, and in a minute the arrogant princess found herself standing in the centre of a colourful sweet puddle.

“Back to the palace, your highness!” the page exclaimed, covering Belle with his cloak.

All day until the evening, the princess (who by now was thoroughly cleaned from the sticky remnants of the caramel dress, redressed and comforted by the maids of honour) remained strangely silent.

After the dinner, she sent for the page and said him: “You know, today I’ve realised something very important: it feels much more pleasant when people admire you for what you are, than for the dress you are wearing. Doesn’t it?”

The young page wanted to say that he always admired and loved her for what she was! But since he was not a knight and a dragon-slayer yet, he just smiled and politely nodded.

Because, after all, you have to always agree with princesses!