The queen who was a thief

Once upon a time, in the far west, there was a wealthy kingdom nestled between the coast and mountains. It was a large country with a large population. The country became rich in ore mining and maritime trade, and gradually became the center of trade on the continent.

The king of this country was a very wise man, and under his command the country grew stronger and stronger. His treasury was also filled with riches. But even though he was already the richest king in the whole continent, he was still not satisfied, and his life creed was "life is wealth". He worked hard every day to make as much money as he could, but lived a very simple life - he even ate the same food as miners and peasants. Why? People thought that he loved the people like his child, so he ate the same food as the people at the bottom. However, his ministers, his family members, and anyone who knew him for who he really was knew that he was just too heartbroken for cost to eat fine food.

Eventually, overwork and an unbalanced diet made the king sick and he soon died. However, the king had no son or brother, so his only heir was his daughter. The princess thus became queen.

The dead king's wife, the former queen, had been very weak after giving birth to her daughter and soon fell ill and died. The king therefore lavished all his love on the princess - she was the only one besides the king who had free access to the treasury, and the only one who could make the king pay out money with alacrity. She herself had inherited her father's intelligence and love of wealth, and was also a good earner of money. Unlike her father, she believed that wealth was for enjoyment, and she would use much of it to make herself a comfortable and luxurious life.

Soon she began to increase the taxes in the kingdom, which caused people to start screaming, but anyone who resisted was punished very harshly. The Queen herself, despite her harsh rule, was also a fair and intelligent person, and was also very good at diplomacy, and the kingdom was able to function stably under her rule. So most people chose to put up with the high taxes - but the Queen was always subject to the icy glare of the people when she went out.

Soon, the Queen began to grow weary of her current life. Though she lived a life of fine clothes, she wanted more excitement in her life, something that money could not give her.

Once, at a ball for royalty from various countries, the pearl jewelry worn by a queen who comes from a faraway island nation caught her attention, a pearl larger than any she had ever seen in her life.

It was a specialty of our country, the queen of the island explained,and she said that they had a clam there that could grow to be as big as a horse-drawn carriage.

Then the other princesses and queens began to introduce the exotic treasures of their countries.

After the ball was over, the queen went back to her room and was very much shocked by what she had seen and heard that day. She quickly realized how small the world she had known was. This gave her an extremely strong desire: now she could satisfy herself not with mere wealth, but with unique and rare treasures.

Soon, she found a witch and asked her to make a magic necklace. Just say what you want and recite the spell. The necklace would then take her to where the thing was.

However, actually finding the treasure on her own was very dangerous because some of the treasures were in deep oceans, volcanoes, or jungles inhabited by fierce beasts.

So, the queen made a decision.

Soon, every time she visited another country, the queen secretly memorized the location of that country's treasures. When it was late at night, she would use the necklace's magic to sneak off and take the treasure away.

Play with it for a few days and then send it back, she thought at first, but her possessiveness for the treasures eventually took over.

Soon, queens and princesses from other countries found their treasures missing, but no one suspected the queen, as many could attest to the fact that she happened to be well enough to stay in her room and sleep in the dead of night, never leaving.

It was so exciting for her.

The queen looked at the others anxiously and was somewhat complacent.

However, there was one queen who acted as she always did ,calm and friendly.

She was a queen from a small, remote country that was so barren and small that it couldn't even inspire a strong country to attack.

My treasures will never be stolen! She said.

You have treasures? This was the first reaction of the others present at the time, for she was plainly dressed like a peasant woman working in the fields.

The queen was a little skeptical, but she still decided to go and see for herself, and if it piqued her interest, she would take the treasure as well.

That night, the queen chanted an incantation in her room.

Take me to her treasure!

At the end of a flash of light, the queen realized that she was in the room of the small-country queen , who put down the book she was reading and looked at her with a surprised face.

The revelation made the queen so ashamed that she had no choice but to tell her the truth.

The Small-country Queen did not blame her, but let her stay for the time being, and when the next day came she would take the Queen to see her treasures.

Early the next morning, the rich queen and the small-country queen shared breakfast together——ordinary bread baked with rude methods and ordinary quality milk that she would never drink if put in her usual way.

I baked the bread myself, said the queen of the small country, and I milked myself, and later I'm going to the market to buy the ingredients for lunch, so you can come too.

This made the rich queen a bit strange, she even did not have a royal chef? Were there no servants either?

As they headed out the door, the rich queen began to realize what small-country queen called her true treasure.

Everyone they met in the the small kingdom looked at their queen with respect and love.

Instead of being afraid of her, people liked her and honored her from the bottom of their hearts.

At the market, she would purposely buy extra food to distribute to the hungry poor children. After buying the ingredients, the Queen of the small country went to the public kitchen to bake bread, just like the common people, and helped each other with the people.

The country is small, the people are few, but everyone is happy.

My country is very poor, but because of this, I can really understand the common people, said the Queen of the Small Country, for me, the most important thing as a leader is not how much money or how many jewels, but whether my people are happy.

The rich queen was speechless at this point.

A heart that truly loved her people, a peaceful and happy country, and the love of all.

These are her treasures.

Can I create such a place now?

Upon returning to her country, the rich queen gave back all the treasures she had stolen and began to lighten taxes and began to pay more attention to the feelings of her people.

Eventually, her country became more prosperous.