1,

Once upon a time, there lived an amazingly beautiful prince. Since he had already turned 20, it was about time for him to think about his own marriage. He was so beautiful that both of the princesses of two adjoining nations (let’s call them as “the princess of nation A” and “the princess of nation B”) were enamored with him and regarded themselves as the most suitable to be his wife.

However, unfortunately, according to the doctrine of the religion of the prince’s nation, every man in the nation could have only one wife. His ancestor was the founder of the religion, so that his breach of the doctrine could never be forgiven. The prince, a man of kindness, was aware that both of the princesses loved him and didn’t want to choose only one of them. However, now that he was 20, his father (king) had begun to tell him to take the matter of his marriage seriously. Even though it was a painful decision for him, he made up his mind to choose one of the princesses.

The conclusion he reached after thinking hard about the matter was to choose the princess of nation A. The thing was, the princess of nation B was 23, older than he, and the princess of nation A was 20, the same age as him. Since he had to choose only one wife, the prince thought he wouldn’t be able to tolerate the situation where his wife would die earlier than he, so that he decided to get married to the princess of nation A, who was younger.

The king agreed, and their wedding was arranged for three months later. Hearing about the developments, the princess of nation B became so shocked that she fell ill in bed.

And one day, when the princess of nation B was lying in bed, her maidservant came to her to tell her that someone who called herself a witch requested an audience with the princess. Since witches were regarded as ominous people, it was usual that they weren’t allowed to enter the castle. However, according to the maidservant, the witch brought a rejuvenator for the princess.

The princess, who had missed a chance to marry the prince because of her age, ordered the witch be taken to her room. After facing the princess, the witch took a glass bottle which was about the size of 500ml bottle out of her black bag hung on her arm and said,

“This is a rejuvenator. It is so effective that only one sip will make you one year younger. Furthermore, the more sips you take, the younger you become and there is no limitation about how many years younger you can become.”

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Even the princess, who were excited to hear about the rejuvenator, couldn’t believe such a story so easily. The witch, who realized that the princess was looking at her with suspicion, told her,

“If you feel suspicious about its effectiveness, you should make this maidservant try it out. Ten sips will be enough to turn her into a youthful woman.”

Though she was skeptical, the princess ordered the middle-aged maidservant standing by her side to do as the witch told her to. And then, soon after taking ten sips of the rejuvenator, she turned into a young woman with radiant skin. This delighted the princess so much so that she bought it at the price asked, and she also took five sips, which turned her, who was an adult aged 23, into a girl aged 18.

2,

Time elapsed, and the day of the wedding between the prince and the princess of nation A came. The ceremony proceeded without troubles, and when he and she approached each other to make their wedding vows through kissing in front of the attendees, someone said in a ringing voice,

“Stop! This marriage isn’t legitimate yet!”

Everyone was taken aback, turned to the direction from which the voice came, and saw the princess of nation B, who had become an 18-year-old girl, standing there. She said in a voice which echoed in the venue,

“I took a rejuvenator and have become five years younger. Prince, you haven’t chosen me because you don’t want your wife to get old earlier than yourself, right? Now that I’m younger than this woman, I’m eligible to marry you!”

Also, despite a surprised look everyone showed, she exclaimed triumphantly, thrusting her right hand holding the glass bottle given by the witch,

“This is the rejuvenator. If you take one sip of it, you will be one year younger. I’ve taken five sips, so I’ve become five years younger and I’m now 18!”

Just after that, the princess of nation A, who had been in a state of blank surprise, furiously rushed to the princess of nation B and robbed the bottle of her right hand. And then, she began to take the rejuvenator, saying,

“If I take five sips, I will be 15, in which case I will be younger than you!”

The princess of nation B got back the bottle without backing down and took several sips too. After that, it developed into a fierce scramble for the bottle between the two princesses, and people around them were dumbfounded by their rage and could do nothing but just watch from afar.

After a while, two babies were crying where the two princesses had been standing. The prince walked to the babies wrapped in dresses whose sizes had become too large for them and lifted them in his arms. And then, he declared,

“I will adopt them.”

Therefore, both of the princesses were destined to receive the prince’s love equally.