In the tavern, noise and commotion reigned, one could hardly find a noisier place, and although this did not befit his royal person and upset his mother, Etienne was sitting at one of the tables, next to the wine, of course, the lord could call any place a library. but now Etienne himself did not know where he was. Some kind of drunken brawl, in which both sides were crippled and bruised, several bottles of wine and the coquetry of those who were called the most accessible girls, and Etienne even forgot that he was a prince, how could he remember about his own wedding.

      «Etienne,» ran up to him his faithful friend Fritz, who often covered him before the wrath of the queen and even the late father, «Etienne, I beg you, let’s go from here.»

      The prince only grabbed his head with his hand. The wine he had drunk made itself felt, and he became completely drunk, and, moreover, he was again drawn into a fight. It was full of those whom he considered his enemies.. The prince proved his bravery in a rather unusual way, fighting with drunks, playing and drinking. Unfortunately for the parents, their handsome son only did what he dragged around the taverns, drank, swore and played. But it was worth noting that this required more courage than even entering the battlefield.

      «Hey, you,» Etienne shouted to one of the drunken, tall and powerful pub-goers. As Fritz did not try to restrain him, he threw himself into a fight and almost killed his rival. The latter’s friends arrived in time. Etienne received several cuts and countless blows before being thrown out of the tavern with a friend. Everyone was comforted in their own way, and Fritz prayed to God that no one would find out where they were that night. He dragged the prince past other drunks, with whom Etienne immediately tried to start a fight. He still managed to pull his friend out of danger, but even the fresh air could not sober the intoxicated head of his young comrade, about whom, however, one could say that he was the bravest prince of all who came before him.

      He did not even remember about any princess and the wedding. The girls didn’t bother him. Their beauty did not evoke hot feelings in him, which, however, woke up in him during fights and drunken skirmishes. His mother, the queen, tried many times to re-educate her very handsome and even more unlucky son, but all this ended in complete failure, and Etienne returned to dice and fights with strangers.

      But today everything should have been different, it had not yet struck midnight when the knights from the king’s personal guard broke into the roadside tavern, was it worth describing the commotion they caused among drunks and ladies of easy virtue, although they were looking for only one person in this place but he was the hardest to find.

      The head of the guard, inwardly, mercilessly cursed the fate that had brought him to such a place, but he was a determined person and was going to carry out everything to the end, although it turned out to be even more difficult than he had expected.

      Their task was to get the young prince out of the pub and bring him to his own wedding, while not allowing him to get drunk or fall asleep, the queen has long tried by all means to do this, but, in the end, more experienced people had to be brought in here. who, however, were themselves a little afraid. After all, who did not know how well their crown prince could fight for his life.

      If his father remained alive, who could always bring him to his senses, but, alas, he died, and there was no one to watch over his unlucky son. No firm hand could any longer hold back the frantic impulses of his young heart. It would seem that such a handsome man as he could not behave in this way. The prince was beautiful, all the girls admitted it, but he didn’t care about them. He did not even want to know about some kind of princess Odette, who was chosen for him as his bride, he did not care about her. He did not yet know that she, too, remained indifferent to this choice made by others for her.

      Soon the tavern was in complete disorder, but the knights could not find out from anyone where Prince Etienne was, finally, they found him in one of the rooms in a hangover, he was fast asleep, and a girl was sitting next to him. As always, the prince was handsome, but in a state in which the queen was better off not seeing him.

      While the knights were figuring out what to do, their leader was barely able to wake the prince.

      «Congratulations, your highness,» he said as politely as possible.

      But Etienne could hardly understand his words, he slightly raised himself, quickly glancing around everything around him and vaguely realizing where he was.

      «With what?» he could barely say.

      «With the fact that the date of the royal wedding has already been appointed. A worthy bride has been found for you.»

      Well, he no longer had salvation, he was waiting for a marriage to an unloved girl and eternal torment, he could never find that beautiful princess he dreamed of. She did not exist in this world, and he will forever remain alone, and now, God knows what fate is preparing for him, probably someone even more ugly than those he has already seen. It was early for him to marry, he understood this, and Fritz, who had also already been taken, as politely as possible under escort, looked at him with regret. He sympathized with his best friend, with whom he spent so many anxious nights in different taverns. Etienne could barely recover from grief, but there was nothing to do, and he involuntarily got out of bed, it was time to go to his unchanging and bitter fate.