Once upon a time there was a young man who lived with his uncle and aunt. His relatives were poor, but they were the boy's only relations, and so they grudgingly took care of him. The boy's uncle worked at the local mill, but he was a drunkard, and most of the money he made was spent on alcohol. One day, the boy's uncle was fired from his job at the mill, and began to take out his anger on the boy.
The boy, sensing the danger he was in, began to wish with all his might. All his concentration was focused on being invisible, passed over by his raging uncle. Suddenly, the boy's uncle became confused; he was attacking a space of empty air. The boy was ecstatic. Sensing that his uncle could not see him, he went to the market and found that he was able to obtain items without anybody ever seeing him or looking in his direction. He found an abandoned building and used what furnishings he could find.
He lived in this fashion for many years, until he decided to begin a journey. He traveled for seven days and seven nights, until he arrived at a large castle. He watched the inhabitants and became enamored with the golden-haired princess who lived there, along with her mother and father. He wished desperately that she could see him, or understand him in any way - for how could he persuade her to love him if he could not interact with her? One day, she perceived him, and after a comment to her minder, she discovered that no other person could see him. They spoke at length for many days, as they were both similar in their loneliness. He could not be seen, and she was always the princess, not the girl to be friends with, but the royalty to bow down to.
One day a sorcerer visited the castle, and the princess spoke to him at length about the man who could not be seen. The sorcerer was old and wise, and had encountered the circumstances before. He told the princess that should the man marry his true love, he would become visible, but if his heart was broken, he would disappear forever.
That night, the princess was approached by the king, and told that a marriage had been arranged to the prince of a neighboring kingdom. The princess was saddened by the news, for surely the man's heart would be broken, and he would be gone from her life.
The man, however, was aware of the responsibilities of the princess, and was understanding of her plight. And so while he did not appear to the rest of the world, he did not disappear from the princess's sight, for he knew that he was loved by the princess.
So the princess was married to the prince, but the invisible man remained with her always. And while her first child was begotten of the prince, her second child was never seen by any soul other than two that were present at the birth - the invisible man and his princess.
The princess raised the visible child in public, although several servants questioned for the princess's sanity when she would speak to seemingly thin air. Her life continued like this, and it was easy, for the prince did not require her love, and she was with the man she did love. When the prince, then the king, died, she felt no great sorrow, for her invisible man was still with her, and so she was not alone. And when she died herself, nobody noticed the extra weight in the coffin, and nobody saw the unmoving body that shared her final resting place.
And what of the invisible child? He found an invisible wife, and their children's children's children just may be watching at this very moment, waiting for the one they love to notice them and set them free.
Note: I wrote this intending it to be in a folklore style. I haven't rewritten it enough to emulate the oral nature of the fable, however, so it's not perfect. I just got too excited not to share! The beginning started out as an idea for a Harry Potter fanfic that got away from me, so any similarities there are...not intentional, but acknowledged nonetheless.
EDIT: Better title now, and fixed some style issues. Thanks!
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